A Loudoun County, Virginia, school counselor has been indicted on charges she had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student.
Ann Barrett, 42, of Ashburn, has been charged with taking indecent liberties with a child by a person in a custodial relationship.
The inappropriate relationship allegedly happened from 2013 through 2016, while Barrett was working at Freedom High School, in South Riding.
Barrett was arrested last November and has been out on bond. Since the victim was a juvenile at the time of the incident, Barrett’s trial began in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court — after the judge found probable cause, the case was sent to the grand jury to consider indictment.
According to charging documents, the victim, whom WTOP is not identifying, said the sexual relationship continued through his freshman year of college, ending in June 2016.
The charge is a Class 6 felony in Virginia, with a maximum sentence of five years behind bars.
When Barrett was arrested, Loudoun County Public Schools System spokesman Wayde Byard said she had been put on administrative leave from her most recent job, at Stone Hill Middle School, in Ashburn, in May 2021 — as soon as LCPS was made aware of the allegations.
After Barrett’s arrest, Byard said the school system was “seeking termination and a revocation of license.”
According to charging documents, Barrett had no prior criminal record. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance, by video, on Wednesday.
Defense attorney William Mann did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
