A former Tradition Preparatory Academy teacher finds himself behind bars after being arrested on charges of soliciting a romantic relationship with a 16-year-old student, Addam Timothy LeClair, 43, has been taken into custody following allegations of inappropriate communication with the teenager. The interactions between LeClair and the student began in March 2025 and continued through the current school year, initiating around spring break when LeClair was serving as her first-period math teacher at the school, as reported by CBS12.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the former teacher offered the student gifts such as flowers and gift cards and sent messages that were "definitely romantic" in nature yet not sexually explicit, as Major Ruben Romero with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office explained, he even slipped $100 into her phone case for prom, after which the girl became increasingly uncomfortable with LeClair’s advances, she tried to draw boundaries only to have him express feelings of hurt and guilt toward her. After the victim blocked his number in July, she later unblocked it to avoid awkward encounters when school resumed, leading to renewed contact from LeClair.
LeClair's actions led to his dismissal from the school last Friday, August 22, and he was booked into the Martin County Jail with bail set at $50,000, as detailed by a TCPalm report. This case marks the first arrest by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office utilizing a state statute subsection that addresses offenses against students by authority figures, which forbids authority figures from soliciting or engaging in romantic relationships with students.
"A teacher cannot date a student," the MCSO spokesperson said, underscoring the legal and ethical boundaries crossed by the accused, in messages cited by the spokesperson, LeClair wrote sentiments such as "I've never connected with anybody like I connected with you. You understand me like no one else ever has," which were part of the evidence collected during the investigation, Tradition Preparatory Academy issued a statement following the arrest assuring parents of their dedication to the safety and security of students, noting that such news is disheartening but validating their commitment to appropriate actions to maintain a safe learning environment, as detailed by CBS12.
