A judge has a sealed a search warrant seeking details of a high school staffer’s romance with a teen student remain sealed.
Madelyn K. Mead, 26, who had worked as a paraprofessional at Wildwood Middle High School, was released this week from the Sumter County Detention Center after posting $50,000 bond.
She had been arrested Nov.14 at her home in Citrus County on a warrant charging her with a felony sex offense. A court document described the alleged conduct as an “authoritative figure” engaging in a “romantic relationship” with a student.
An investigation was launched after school officials received a report that Mead was involved in “an inappropriate relationship” with a 16-year-old student. School officials immediately notified the school resource officer who began an investigation. The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division was notified and took over the investigation. Mead was immediately removed from the school by the Sumter County School Board.
Judge Mary Hatcher ordered that a search warrant be issued after Mead’s arrest. Presumably, that could have included electronic devices such as a phone and computer that could have included incriminating messages.
Mead does not appear to have any other criminal history other than a ticket in 2017 for not wearing a seatbelt.
Mead had been employed by the Sumter County School Board since 2019. In 2022, Mead was nominated for the School Related Employee of the Year.