A former office staff worker at Kent-Meridian High School was arrested Wednesday afternoon and charged with child rape Thursday in connection with a sexual relationship she allegedly had with a 15-year-old male student.
King County prosecutors charged Kristal Gamble, 33, with third-degree child rape and immoral communication with a minor.
Gamble, of Olympia, was booked into the King County jail on Wednesday with bail set at $10,000. She posted bail on Thursday and was released, according to jail records. Arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 30 in Courtroom GA at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
Gamble initiated an inappropriate relationship with the victim that began with text messages and escalated into a sexual assault, according to charging papers. Facebook and text messages between Gamble and the student occurred from April through August of this year, according to time stamps.
The boy’s parents found sexual photos and messages on their son’s cellphone, then contacted Kent Police in September, according to court documents. By then, Gamble was no longer working at Kent-Meridian, according to the Kent School District.
“This person was no longer in our employ when these allegations came to light, and we have cooperated with the police investigation fully,” the Kent School District said in an email statement. “We have been informed by police their investigation had little to no focus on the KSD connection, but, of course, our primary concern is for the safety and well being of any child served in our system currently or formerly.”
Explicit communication between Gamble and the student occurred during school days, the incident report said. The boy said initial exchanges pertained to school and her wanting to be his mentor. However, he said, a lot of flirting began and that she wanted to have sex with him, the incident report said.
Gamble and the boy would message each other while he was at school, the report said. He said sometimes she would “flash” her breasts at him while they “face-timed” each other, the report said. The boy said he saved and “screen shot” all the communication on his phone.
Gamble, according to the incident report, made a deal with the student, telling him that if had good attendance at school, she would have sex with him.
The woman met the student at a water park near the high school, where she gave the boy oral sex, according to charging papers. The boy said that was the one and only time they had met up after school. He added that Gamble was commonly drunk when she had asked him to come to her house.
Child Protective Services interviewed Gamble, who reportedly admitted to having a problem with alcohol that prompted her to have sexual conversations she cannot remember, documents said. Gamble said she did not remembering messaging the boy, but based on her history she probably did it.
When detectives contacted Gamble for an interview, she requested to have an attorney present prior to any questioning.
Gamble is a 2002 graduate of Auburn High School, according to resumes she posted online at linkedin.com and postjobfree.com. She worked as an office administrative assistant at Kent-Meridian from September 2016 to July 2017, according to the posts. Her job duties included answering incoming calls while directing them to the appropriate office, assisting students’ process of checking in and out for daily attendance, preparing daily bulletins, weekly activity schedules and memos to teachers and students.
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