Alisha Crins, a former Ponaganset High School teacher, now faces charges in Rhode Island after being accused of sexually harassing a former student. Crins, 39, was charged on Friday, as per court records, local outlets reported.
She faces two counts of third-degree sexual assault and her formal arraginment is slated for March 18. The student had graduated last spring and filed a formal complaint against Crins and the Rhode Island State Police in October, which triggered an investigation.
Here’s what to know about Alisha Crins.
Alisha Crins: 5 things to know
- Alisha Crins was the student’s physical education teacher in school, when he was a sophomore.
- She’d sent him numerous flirty messages and they turned to nude photos and videos when he grew to be 18, the police said. He also claimed that Crins had invited him to her home in Cranston and kissed him in his car twice during his junior year.
- Crins admitted to the police that she had sent photos but emphasized they were never ‘physical’. She acknowledged that they’d discussed having sex when he was a legal adult but had not acted on it.
- The 39-year-old resigned as a result of the investigation, and now works as a rural carrier for the Coventry Post Office, as per her LinkedIn profile.
- Prior to this, she worked as a health educator at North Cumberland middle school and also was the physical education teacher at North Smithfield middle school. This is where she reportedly met her husband, who’s also a teacher.
Crins had been an instructor for PHS’s health and fitness/EMT CTE program. She has a Bachelor of Science, Health and Physical Education/Fitness from Rhode Island College. Her LinkedIn profile notes ‘team leadership’ and ‘team building’ are among her skills.
Reactions to Alisha Crins news
Several people had reacted when the news about Crins broke. “There are predatory teachers in almost every school in the nation, it seems, and there are just about as many women offenders as men. Never trust teachers with your kids,” one person had said on X.
Another had commented on Facebook, “I’m sure this teacher thought she wasn’t doing anything wrong since she was planning and waiting until her student turned 18 to actually have sex with him. WTF is wrong with these teachers?”.
At the time Superintendent Renee Palazzo had said officials were not aware of any concerns linked to Crins, as per a local media outlet.
