A teacher at one of the Denver metro area’s most prestigious private schools has been arrested after allegations 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 Abigail Anne Holloway, 33, of Lakewood was taken into custody Thursday afternoon at St. Mary’s Academy in Cherry Hills Village on an arrest warrant from Sunnyvale, Calif., investigators.
Capt. Doug Moretto of the Sunnyvale Police Department said authorities there received a complaint in December that in the spring of 2001, Holloway developed a relationship with a student at Sunnyvale’s King’s Academy. Sunnyvale is in the San Jose area, south of San Francisco.
At some point during the relationship, authorities charge, Holloway engaged in sexual conduct with the girl and the relationship continued for several years. Holloway is charged in the warrant with several counts of child abuse.
Moretto said 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.”
Burton, the Cherry Hills Village police spokeswoman, said her department has received no complaints from St. Mary’s, and they know of no local victims.
“Everyone was completely surprised,” Burton said. “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.
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.
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.” It is situated in one of the toniest enclaves in the metro area, and over the years has educated the children of corporate executives, attorneys, doctors and professional athletes. It is also not the only local school where Holloway taught.
Lewis-Palmer School District 38 confirmed that Holloway worked at Kilmer Elementary School in Monument for three months from September to December 2007 as a teacher’s aide. She would have worked one-on-one with students needing special help with reading or math, a district spokesperson said.
The district said there were no complaints or blemishes on Holloway’s record during those three months.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
