UPDATE: Mills teacher arrested for inappropriate relationships with students

A high school French teacher was arrested after investigators say he had sex with a student. Pulaski County deputies arrested the Mills High teacher Wednesday morning at his home. Teacher Timmothy Minton is being held on a $140,000 bond. FOX16 spoke exclusively with one of Minton's former students who says their relationship went too far.

"Did you see anything wrong with it at the time?” we asked.

“Yes I did," the Mills graduate said.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he is not holding back on his alleged sexual affair with teacher Timmothy Minton.

"Every time that we were involved, it was in his classroom.  The windows were open; students are going to their bus. This is directly after school,” he explained.

"The victim has told us it was consensual but because of his age and the circumstances, this is sexual assault,” said John Rehrauer with the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office.

The department is investigating if more former students were involved. At least one other Mills graduate has also approached sheriff’s deputies.

"How in the world could this happen in a classroom?” we asked Superintendent Rob McGill.

“What I have, it happened in 2004 or 2005 and even though it did happen several years ago, that's something we want to know also,” he said.

McGill is taking the former student’s allegations seriously.

"He says school staff knew about it,” we mentioned to McGill.

“That’s part of the investigation also... there could be personnel action against those staff also,” he said.

"I would hate for there to be somebody else,” the former student told us.

Timmothy Minton was on administrative leave prior to Wednesday’s arrest. McGill says he is not recommending firing the teacher because he's innocent until proven guilty.

The former student says he was a high school senior at the time of the alleged affair. He also claims other students were also involved with the same teacher. Minton is charged with 4 counts of sexual assault.

Another student comes forward about sexual relationships with Mills teacher

Another former Mills High student came forward saying he too had an inappropriate relationship with a teacher who is now on administrative leave. The student spoke only to FOX16.

This is the second former student to speak exclusively to FOX16 about the investigation. Neither wants to be identified. The latest Mills graduate says in 2004, he had sex with one of his male teachers inside a classroom. He attended a school district hearing Monday night to speak out to the school board.

“What type of contact did you have?” we asked.

“Physical, sexual, penetration,” the graduate replied.

Now 24 years-old, a former Mills student says his teacher made a pass at him when he was just a teenager.

“I was joking and made a comment and he took it to the next level. That’s where the relationship began,” he explained.

Pulaski County deputies and state police are investigating the allegations. FOX16 is not releasing the name of the teacher in question because there are no formal charges filed.

“It wasn’t very private. The windows were open and students were going to the bus. This was directly after school. [There was] a lack of supervision,” he said.

We asked why the former student is just now speaking out.

“I got word that there were other incidences and I began to think about it and I said there must be other people that have been involved as well that haven’t been able to come forward or maybe too ashamed because I myself was ashamed of the whole situation,” he said.

Now, he says he’s breaking his silence in hopes it helps.

“I wasn’t the only one. I’m well aware of that. If nothing is done about this situation then what’s to happen next?” he said.

The graduate says he has no ill feelings towards his former teacher. In fact, he says their sexual relationship was consensual and lasted about 3 months. We contacted the teacher at home but he hasn’t returned our calls to share his side of the story.

The graduate told the Board of Education other staff at the school were aware of the sexual relationship, but didn’t speak up.

Mills High’s principal, Mike Nellums, will return to work Wednesday following a suspension. Superintendent Rob McGill recommended terminating his contract due to alleged “misconduct” and another unspecified investigation. Early Wednesday morning, the board voted 4 to 3 to keep the principal in place.