The Nebraska teacher caught naked in the backseat of a car after an alleged sexual liaison with a teenage student is reportedly married to a top-level U.S. Department of Defense official.
Erin Ward, a 45-year-old substitute teacher in the Omaha Public Schools District, has been charged with first-degree sexual abuse by a school employee, according to jail records.
It's unclear if she entered a plea to the charge or retained an attorney to comment on her behalf. During a Tuesday court hearing, a judge set her bail at $25,000.
Ward was most recently filling in as a teacher at Burke High School and other area schools, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.
She is married to William "Doug" Ward, with whom she shares three children, the New York Post reported, citing social media.
William is currently serving as the Deputy Chief of the Global Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Capabilities Branch in the Global ISR and Space Division, United States Strategic Command, at the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, according to his bio on the Journal of Information Warfare website. He provides his expertise on missiles and is a former Harvard graduate.
Ward was arrested Saturday morning by deputies responding to a call of a suspicious vehicle parked on a dead end road in an Omaha, Nebraska, neighborhood, according to the DCSO. Deputies allegedly witnessed Ward and a 17-year-old student naked in the backseat of a Honda Pilot. She allegedly admitted to having sex with the student who subsequently fled on foot after crashing the SUV two blocks away.
Her district employee ID was recovered in the vehicle.
As of press time, Ward remained in jail.
