Substitute Teacher Sentenced After Exchanging Money, Drugs and Alcohol for Sex with Students: Police

A former long-term substitute teacher in Pulaski County, Missouri, will spend a decade behind bars after she struck a plea deal with prosecutors on September 17. She was sentenced on Wednesday.

That deal saw 30-year-old Carissa Smith's 19 felony charges reduced to one count of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of sexual contact with a student. She will serve six years for the endangering charge and two each for the sexual contact charges, with the sentences served consecutively.

She had originally been charged with two counts of Sexual Trafficking of a Child Under the age of 18, nine counts of Statutory Rape, two counts of Statutory Sodomy, three counts of Sexual Contact with a Student, one count of Patronizing Prostitution – 14 years and younger, and two counts of Hindering Prosecution of a Felony, per a press release from the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office.

The allegations stem from Smith's time as a paraprofessional and substitute teacher for the Dixon R-1 School District. She resigned in August 2024 after her arrest and a slew of allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior began to emerge from alleged victims as young as middle school students. She had worked for the district as a sub since August 2022.

"This is very disturbing and distressing information for everyone in our school community," wrote Dixon R-I School District Superintendent Travis Bohrer in a letter to families after her arrest, detailing that the District was in full cooperation with law enforcement.

According to multiple students at the time, Smith would offer them money, marijuana, and alcohol in exchange for sexual acts, including intercourse and allowing her to perform oral sex on them, according to the PCSO press release and probable cause affidavit reviewed by multiple media outlets include KRCG, KY3, and Fox News.

Smith made extensive efforts to keep these activities secret from her husband, per the documents, allegedly meeting victims at isolated locations "such as gravel roads or on the side of the road," for these transactions, though there were times it also happened at her home when her husband was away for work.

In one instance, a student told investigators that she allegedly told her husband that the student was blackmailing her with a video of her smoking marijuana with minors, leading to her husband threatening the student with a baseball bat.

The affidavit details one witness interview where the student said they had had video of her performing oral sex on them, but when she found out about it, she allegedly "smashed" their phone.

A friend also reportedly took photos of himself, the victim, and Smith together in a car. The New York Post reports that her brother-in-law allegedly caught her in bed with one underage student after hearing about a video circulating The outlet notes that the alleged abuses occurred between August 2023 to September 2024.

One minor interviewed by detectives, as detailed by USA Today, said that their alleged encounters with Smith occurred while they were in middle school, saying that it started when she gave them her Snapchat username.

What started as chats between the two on the platform escalated and "Smith began sending them pictures of her breasts and buttocks, along with her nude in the shower," per the affidavit.

Then, they told investigators that another friend had asked them if they'd like to "do some work and make some money for the work." When the student said they would, the friend took them to Smith's house, per the probable cause affidavit.

That was the first time that Smith offered to pay them for sex, the student said, per the report. At that point, per the interview, the student engaged in sex acts with Smith, including sexual intercourse. They reportedly told authorities they were paid $130. Smith then told them, they said, not to say anything or she'd get in trouble.

Another student told investigators that they allegedly had sex-for-money encounters with Smith at least six or seven times, paid in cash or via Cash App each time. Like the other student, after one alleged encounter in a field for $110 and marijuana, this student told detectives that Smith told them, "You know you can’t talk about this with anybody?"

This same child said that during one occasion, Smith allegedly forced them to ejaculate inside of her, and when they expressed distress about this, stating "That was f–ked up," as detailed by the Post, she offered them more money, per the affidavit.

As word allegedly got out among the student body about this arrangement, one student reached out to Smith directly in an attempt to offer sex for money, as detailed in the affidavit. However, the report details that as they were a year younger than the other alleged victims, Smith purportedly told them they were "too young."

If you believe you or someone else is the victim of child sexual exploitation, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children offers 24/7 support for those in need at  1-800-THE-LOST (843-5678), or at report.cybertip.org. You can also contact the FBI at tips.fbi.gov.