While she should be attending freshman week at college, a teenager is testifying that her former teacher sexually assaulted her when she was 14.
The survivor, who is now 18 and an incoming freshman at a Virginia university, said she viewed their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend.
Timothy Threlkeld, a former vocational education teacher of the year in Reston, surrendered his teaching license years ago when the inappropriate relationship was revealed. On Tuesday, he had his 42nd birthday.
The teen was visibly uncomfortable as she answered the prosecutor's questions about how the intimate contact began. She said it started with kissing but escalated.
The prosecutor asked, "Did he ever touch any of your private parts?"
"Yes," she responded. "My breast, my vagina and my butt."
In the closet of the shop classroom, she said, Threlkeld also made her touch him.
"He said that as a graduation gift, he would take my virginity away," she said.
A thick black binder containing 600 pages of texts sent over a few weeks in 2014 was introduced as evidence. According to the texts, Threlkeld had a pet name for the girl: Brat.
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The improper relationship was discovered in late June 2014, when the teen's older sister caught her with Threlkeld on a planned movie date at Reston Town Center.
Police and school officials were alerted, but the girl told them they had only kissed. No charges were filed.
Threlkeld resigned from his position as a shop teacher at Langston Hughes Middle School in 2015, police said. He surrendered his teaching license when confronted by FCPS officials and moved away from the area.
In 2017, the teen came forward with new allegations, which resulted in charges: four counts of taking indecent liberties with a child.
The prosecutor asked in court Tuesday, "Why did you not reveal all the details of what happened?"
"Because I was ashamed that it happened and scared," the teen testified.
On cross-examination in court, Threlkeld's attorney suggested that the teen had a crush on her teacher, pointing to a long message she allegedly wrote in Threlkeld's yearbook. The attorney also said the teen had embellished at least one incident in her diary.
The defense attorney also questioned whether two people would have fit in the closet were the alleged inappropriate acts occurred because it was packed with boxes.
It's unclear if the former teacher will take the stand on the third day of trial on Wednesday as the defense makes their case.
