TYLER, Texas — A former Tyler ISD employee and aspiring Olympic athlete has been charged with sexual assault of a child following an investigation into accusations of rape and an inappropriate relationship with a middle school student, according to arrest documents.
Andre Jefferson, 28, of Tyler, remains in the Smith County Jail on a $500,000 bond after the Tyler Police Department arrested him Thursday, Feb. 23.
According to an arrest affidavit, Tyler ISD Police Department Chief Danny Brown was notified of the allegations on Feb. 20 and Jefferson was suspended the same day pending an investigation.
The student reported to officials that Jefferson raped her and touched her inappropriately. The document shows that all these interactions happened off-campus, including at his apartment, according to the affidavit.
Police also discovered a text message thread between Jefferson and the student, which he had at one point he told her to delete. A family member of the child saw the messages and notified the school, according to the document.
When Tyler police downloaded the contents of Jefferson's phone, officers recovered all the deleted messages between Jefferson and the student, including the one where Jefferson asked her to delete all their messages "ASAP" the morning of Feb. 20, the document said.
Jefferson initially had told police that he never spoke to the student outside of school and has never talked with her on the phone or text her, the affidavit read. Police said he also gave Brown a cell phone number that's not his during the interview.
In 2016, Jefferson, a 2013 John Tyler High School graduate, was competing in the trials for a spot on the United States Olympic track and field team, according to the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
According to the Tyler Paper article, Jefferson wanted to finish in the top three in the long jump to earn a spot in the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.