‘We’re going to have sex,’ North Texas teacher tells officer posing as teen in warrant
In October, Steven Rhea Hart contacted someone he believed was a 15-year-old boy on Grindr, and asked for photographs, according to a warrant.
Their conversations turned sexual in a matter of days as Hart, a honor biology teacher at Coppell High School 9th Grade Campus, wanted to meet the teen, the warrant says. The person Hart was talking to on the LGBTQ online dating app was actually an undercover officer working an operation targeting child predators, according to the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office.
The “teen” confessed he had never been with a guy, and Hart comforted him by saying he wasn’t going to force him, but they could try “kissing, cuddling, jacking off, blow jobs, fingering, sex, etc.,” according to an arrest warrant obtained Friday by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
For weeks, the sexual conversations continued between Hart and undercover officer until Wednesday, authorities said.
Hart, 26, was arrested Wednesday after authorities obtained a warrant.
He faces a charge of online solicitation of a minor, which is a third-degree felony, according to officials with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office.
Hart was taken into custody after investigators with the Sheriff’s Office’s human trafficking unit completed the undercover operation.
Hart resigned from the school district shortly before he was arrested, according to a statement released Wednesday by Coppell Independent School District officials.
The alleged incident does not involve a Coppell ISD student, school officials said.
Hart had worked in the district since 2016. School officials also reported the alleged incident to the State Board of Educator Certification.
“Employee privacy laws prohibit us from releasing any additional details about this situation,” the school district statement said.
The arrest warrant written by Detective Krystal Kaether with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office provided this account of the investigation:
Investigators with the human trafficking unit began participating in the operation in October.
Once Hart contacted the officer posing as a teen, he identified himself as a teacher. He told the teen he had grown up in Hurst, Texas, but he lived in Grapevine.
At some point, Hart — who was identified as “Hello” on Grindr — asked the teen to move the conversations to the application Kik. Hart provided his Kik name as “Sadsteven.”
In the Kik application, Hart and the teen continued sexual conversations as the teacher continued asking the boy if he wanted to have sex. Hart also sent this message, “Can I see your nudes again?”
But the teen responded, “I don’t send nudes lol.”
Their sexual conversations spilled into February as the teen told Hart that he was a virgin.
In one of their final conversations, Hart talked about being cautious, but he made a promise.
“I want to meet you, but I also like not being in jail,” Hart told the teen in a conversation. “We’re going to have sex sooner or later.”
Anyone with information on the case should call Detective Krystal Kaether with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office at 817-884-1275.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 12:05 PM.
