A substitute teacher working at a Georgia elementary school has been charged with 19 counts of child molestation following her arrest on Friday, local authorities said.
Amelia Ressler, 30, was arrested after staff members at Mt. Zion Elementary School reported allegations of misconduct involving her engaging in “indecent and immoral acts while in the presence of school-aged children,” the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The school is near Carrollton, a city about 54 miles west of Atlanta.
Investigators obtained photos and video of Ressler masturbating in front of a second-grade classroom, Carroll County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Ashley Hulsey told NBC News.
She said authorities are in the weekslong process of conducting interviews with the 19 children who were present in the classroom during the alleged incident. Additional charges could be added based on those interviews, according to Hulsey.
Officials with the sheriff’s office and Carroll County Schools have been in contact with the district attorney’s office, Hulsey said.
"We appreciate the dedication Carroll County Schools has for the safety of their students as they are working diligently to communicate with all parents of students affected and we will continue to work closely with them during the remainder of the investigation," the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Ressler is currently being held in the county jail. Bond has not been set, jail records show.
District Attorney John Herbert Cranford Jr., who is working on investigating the case, could not be immediately reached by phone on Saturday to clarify if Ressler has obtained an attorney or entered a plea.
