Elite Sports Academy Teacher Sexually Abused Underage Student, Cops Say

A 58-year-old teacher at IMG Academy, an elite sports institute, is facing multiple felony charges after being accused of a sexual relationship with a minor studying there, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. After having evaded detectives attempting to serve her multiple warrants for days, Taylor J. Anderson surrendered to the county jail on Monday. She has been charged with sexual battery by custodial authority, traveling to meet a minor, and transmission of harmful material to a minor.

The sheriff’s office said that IMG Academy staff tipped them off to Anderson’s disturbing behavior with an underage student in late August, after gossip began to circulate at the school. In July, a spokesperson for the department said, Anderson allegedly picked the student up in her car, where she sexually abused the student. The academy’s officials allegedly confronted the student after catching wind of the rumors, and the student came clean. They banned Anderson from campus and later fired her.