Ballard High School teacher's aide charged with sex abuse of student

SEATTLE -- A Ballard High School teacher's aide has been placed on leave amid charges she sexually abused a teenage student.

Meghan B. Miller, 35, was charged Friday with third-degree child molestation and two counts of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor.

The King County Prosecutor's Office accuses Miller of abusing her position at the school to engage in sexual contact with a female student over several years.

According to court documents, Miller and the student first met at an after-school program in 2016 when the girl was 14.  Miller is accused of alienating the girl from her friends and family and engaging in sexually explicit conversations over Instagram.

The girl was 15 years old during their first sexual encounter, prosecutors allege.  The relationship was discovered after the girl told a friend who then told a Ballard school employee, according to court documents.

Ballard High School Principal Keven Wynkoop issued a statement Friday saying that Miller has been placed on leave and that the district is cooperating with the police investigation.  Additional counseling staff will also be available at the school when students return from winter break.

Miller worked as a teacher's aide as well as a soccer coach at the school.  She is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 3.  A warrant has been issued for her arrest and her bail will be set at $100,000.

Anyone with additional information about the case is asked call Seattle Police's Special Assault Unit at 206-684-5575.