A Coweta County teacher and two teenagers have been arrested amid an investigation into allegations of child sexual exploitation. Patricia Fulford, a 55-year-old English teacher at East Coweta High School, faces charges including two counts of second-degree cruelty to children and one count of maintaining a disorderly house, officials announced. The Coweta County Sheriff's Office shared that the investigation prompted by reports that surfaced in December 2024 is still active, suggesting that additional charges may be pending.
The sheriff's office revealed that Fulford turned herself in at the Coweta County Detention Center on April 7, as reported by Atlanta News First. Joining her in the lineup of charges are two 15-year-olds whose names have been withheld due to their age. Each of the teens is being charged with child sexual exploitation, and one also faces charges of sodomy, according to the same news outlet. The relationship between the Fulford and the two teenagers remains undisclosed.
In the local East Coweta High School community, the news of the arrests has caused considerable alarm. Deborah Harless, whose grandson is a student at the school, expressed her distress to FOX 5 Atlanta, stating, "It really surprises me and shocks me," and "It is very disturbing. It does worry me having kids over there." Another student at the school, sophomore Ashley Austria, shared similar sentiments, revealing her concern for the safety of herself and others to FOX 5 Atlanta: "When I first saw it, I was like, ‘Oh my god,’" and "I don’t think I could ever see anybody ever doing that. I just want to know what happened."
While the investigation continues to unfold, the school district has taken measures regarding Fulford, placing her on administrative leave, a fact noted by both news sources. Further details about a potential wider network involved in the case or the specifics of the allegations have not been made available by the sheriff’s office at this point.
