A teacher at St. Mary’s Academy in Cherry Hills Village has been arrested after allegations that she engaged in a lengthy sexual relationship with a 13-year-old female student while teaching in California.
Leslie Burton, spokeswoman for the Cherry Hills Village Police Department, said that Abigail Anne Holloway, 33, of Lakewood was taken into custody Thursday afternoon at St. Mary’s Academy on an arrest warrant from Sunnyvale, Calif., investigators.
Capt. Doug Moretto of the Sunnyvale Police Department said authorities there learned in December that in the spring of 2001, Holloway allegedly developed a relationship with a student at Sunnyvale’s King’s Academy.
At some point during the relationship, it is believed Holloway engaged in sexual conduct with the girl and that the relationship continued for several years.
Moretto said that his department is trying to determine whether there are additional victims in the case.
He said Holloway ended her employment at King’s Academy in 2003 and that from 2003 to 2005, she worked at several other schools in Santa Clara County, Calif.
Authorities believe she left California in 2005 and moved to Colorado.
Moretto said that two detectives from his department interviewed Holloway after her arrest and that “she is cooperating.”
Both Sunnyvale detectives are returning to California today, but Holloway is not returning with them, he added.
Burton, the Cherry Hills Village police spokeswoman, said that her department has received no complaints from St. Mary’s, and they know of no local victims.
“Everyone was completely surprised,” said Burton. “We are working very closely with St. Mary’s administrators. Hopefully, there were no victims here, but we are aggressively pursuing the leads” from California, said Burton.
Holloway was arrested pursuant to a warrant issued out of California on multiple charges of child abuse. She was booked into the Arapahoe County Detention Facility and will be transported to Santa Clara County, said Burton.
Deirdre Cryor, president of St. Mary’s Academy, said Holloway joined the school in August after a “rigorous hiring process,” including reference and background checks.
She said Holloway was a physical-education teacher and coached eighth-grade volleyball.
Cryor said the school is cooperating with Cherry Hills Village police but that neither Cherry Hills investigators nor the school anticipates finding any wrongdoing by Holloway at the school.
Cryor declined to characterize the relationship Holloway had with staff and students at the school or how news of the situation was broken to students.
“We just learned of it yesterday,” said Cryor. “We are just learning about it and taking care of it piece by piece.”
St. Mary’s Academy is a co-ed private school for grades K-8 and an all-girls high school. It was founded in 1864 and describes itself as a “Catholic, independent school.”
Bob Kellogg, principal of King’s Academy, said that Holloway taught physical education at the school for two years, 2000-2002.
“We did a full background check. She had no prior criminal history, no history of inappropriate conduct,” said Kellogg. “It was an absolute shock to anyone who knew her.”
Kellogg said he was not at the school when she was there and that all the students who were there at the time have since graduated.
“She was here a short period of time. She did not leave under any kind of cloud,” he added. “I don’t know the identity of the (alleged) victim.”
Anyone with information about Holloway is asked to contact Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Detective Kirk Kim at 408-730-7120.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
