Former Riverside arts teacher had months-long relationship with student, police say

A former high school teacher in Riverside who is accused of carrying on a months-long relationship with a student has been arrested, police announced Tuesday.

Encore High School for the Arts teacher Camryn Zelinger, 32, was arrested on suspicion of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor and annoying or molesting a child under 18, Riverside police said.

The student, who KTLA reported was a girl 14 or 15 years old, said she’d had an “inappropriate relationship over the past few months” with Zelinger, police said. The student’s mother learned of the relationship and alerted police, authorities said.

Another parent, Tiffany Florez, told KTLA there was nothing about Zelinger that would have led to any suspicions.

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“The way she is and the way she interacts with the children, you would never suspect. You would never think she would do something like that,” she said.

Parents told the station that Zelinger would occasionally request the student be pulled out of other classes so the pair could be alone.

The police investigation revealed “inappropriate physical contact and communications between the teacher and student,” officials said.

The high school has fully cooperated with the investigation and Zelinger has been fired, police said.

Jail records show Zelinger was released on $50,000 bail on Tuesday and is due in court in April.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.

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