HOUSTON — Another Memorial High School teacher was arrested Monday and charged with sexual assault of a child and improper relationship with a student.
Lawrence Johnson Jr., 50, was placed on administrative leave when the allegations surfaced and is no longer with the district, Spring Branch ISD said.
According to court documents, Johnson began a sexual relationship with a sophomore choir student in 2016 and it continued for years.
An anonymous tip given to the MHS principal led the investigation. The person who gave the tip said Johnson had "too much contact" with the student.
According to court documents, the inappropriate relationship between Johnson and the student unfolded when the student was in his choir class. The documents say the now-former student said she was depressed her sophomore year in high school, and that her choir teacher noticed. The court documents say Johnson would talk to her and tell her things would be OK. She shared with him that sometimes she would self-harm to feel better, the documents say.
Since Johnson had all the student's phone numbers he would call her to see how she was feeling and text her "outside of choir business," court records say. Toward the end of her sophomore year, the texts turned to hugs and touching, and then to a sexual relationship for several years, according to court records.
The two would see one another almost daily going into the girl's junior year of high school, court records say. This went on until after the girl's freshman year in college. Johnson often told her no one could find out because he wouldn't make it in jail, court documents say.
Johnson is out on a $30,000 bond. His next court date is Feb. 2.
Spring Branch ISD and Memorial High School administration are working closely with law enforcement authorities in this investigation, and if these allegations prove true, we urge the legal system to take the strongest possible action against this former employee.
Second Memorial HS case this month
Johnson is the second MHS teacher to be charged this month.
Spring Branch ISD officials said Stephen Griffin was placed on administrative leave after an 18-year-old student said she had a sexual relationship with him that went on for months.
According to court records, the girl said Griffin was her science teacher when they began having sex in 2022 when he was separated from his wife and living in a hotel.
At some point, the teen said he began giving her test answers and then gave her all 100s on her classwork.
She told police that the relationship continued until the summer but he texted her on Oct. 4 and said he and his wife were trying to reconcile and to not contact him again.
“We will never tolerate any action by any employee who violates the high standards and the Educator Code of Ethics to which we all are held. It is our highest obligation to protect the safety and wellbeing of our students, and we take this responsibility very seriously,” Dr. Jennifer Blaine, Superintendent of Schools said in a statement.
Blaine said Spring Branch ISD requires every employee to annually complete Safe Schools training and a related assessment to ensure they fully understand the appropriate, safe boundaries that must be maintained between students and staff.
Spring Branch ISD encourages parents and students to utilize their anonymous reporting link on campus websites and check out the district’s See Something, Say Something protocol. See something, say something encourage guardians to talk to students and empower them to "speak up and report anything unusual they hear or see" to help keep the schools safe. The district emphasizes that it is always safe to report something to a teacher, or school administrator.