Kindergarten teacher accused of grooming, sexually abusing teen for years, lawsuit says

GREENVILLE, S.C. (WHNS/Gray News) – A family is suing a school district after a teacher was arrested on charges of criminal sexual misconduct with a minor last year.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the victim, claims Anderson School District 5 was negligent, should have known about the teacher’s inappropriate actions and failed to protect the victim.

According to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, Nicole Ballew Callaham began grooming the now-18-year-old when he was 14 while she worked as a kindergarten teacher. The alleged misconduct lasted at least two years.

A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the victim in this case against Anderson school district five (Source: WHNS)

Callaham allegedly signed the student out of school, transported him to practices and served as a supervisor for after-school activities.

The South Carolina Governor’s School and Project Challenge Playhouse were also named in the lawsuit.

The school continued to allow Callaham to check the victim out of the dorms, and she began grooming him during drama practice at the playhouse, the lawsuit alleges.

Arrest warrants from the Greenville Police Department and Anderson County Sheriff’s Office state that Callaham gave the teen marijuana, nicotine and alcohol. She also allegedly raped the teen at a hotel and parking garage in Greenville, South Carolina.

Callaham faces three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in Anderson County, South Carolina. In Greenville, South Carolina, she is charged with eight counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and four counts of unlawful conduct toward a child.

The defendants in the lawsuit have not responded to FOX Carolina’s request for comment.

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