A Missouri Teacher Has Been Charged With 19 Offenses Involving Sexual Misconduct With a Minor

According to a statement shared on Facebook by the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department, Carissa Jane Smith has been arrested and is being held on a $250,00 bond. Smith is a teacher and resident of Dixon, Mo., who previously taught in the Dixon R-1 School District. She was hired in September 2022 as a substitute teacher at Dixon Middle School, but less than a year later Smith allegedly began engaging in sexually abusive relationships with students.

What did she do? Details of her crimes explained.

In court documents obtained by the New York Post, victims told police Smith would pay them to keep quiet about what was going on. She allegedly sexually assaulted students at her home or in her car. One victim told authorities he first met Smith when she was teaching at the middle school. After giving him her Snapchat information, Smith started sending him "pictures of her breasts and buttocks, along with [pictures of] her nude in the shower," while saying, "You know you can’t talk about this with anybody?"

This same boy claimed Smith forced him to ejaculate inside of her, to which he said, "That was f--ked up." Smith often paid victims $100 to let her perform oral sex on them or to have sex with her. She also plied them with alcohol and marijuana and even smoked pot with one of the victims along with her friend. Lacey Beam is not just a buddy of Smith's; she was previously a school nurse for the Dixon School District.

Smith has been charged with eight counts of statutory rape, one count of sodomy, three counts of sexual contact with a student, two counts of sexual misconduct with a student, one count of patronizing prostitution, two counts of sexual trafficking a child, and two counts of hindering prosecution.

In response to Smith's arrest, Superintendent Travis Bohrer of the Dixon School District released a statement to KY3 acknowledging that they were aware of the charges and assured everyone they were cooperating with the Missouri Children’s Division as well as law enforcement. "This is very disturbing and distressing information for everyone in our school community," he wrote. He goes on to describe the steps taken when incidents like this are reported.

First, they immediately contact the Missouri Children's Division and local police, while placing the accused teacher on administrative leave. Outside of an actual situation, the district requires all "employees also participate in annual training regarding appropriate conduct toward students, including appropriate boundaries between District employees and students." They also conduct thorough background checks before doing any hiring.

A few people commented under the Facebook post from the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department about a similar situation in their county. In October 2024, Hailey Clifton-Carmack of Waynesville, Mo. was ordered to complete a sex offender rehabilitation program, with the judge promising to check on her after 90 days, per WKRC. If she does well, her sentence could be suspended.

Clifton-Carmack pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a student whose father was covering up the abuse. She also had other students act as lookouts for her while Clifton-Carmack sexually abused the student during school hours. Prosecutors alleged that Mark Creighton, the victim's father, was aware of what was going on and did nothing about it. He was also arrested. This plus the Smith allegations have left parents wondering what is going on in their county.