A former “teacher of the month” in Kansas allegedly groomed a 17-year-old student into an inappropriate sexual relationship and showed up at his workplace when he tried to cut things off, law enforcement officials said.
Nicole Hernandez, who goes by Nikki Baird, was hit with four felony counts of having “unlawful sexual relations with a student” in May after local police received a tip regarding a social media post indicating that the 30-year-old Wichita North High School art teacher, who is married, was engaged in illegal activity with the alleged victim, the Wichita Eagle reported in July.
An affidavit obtained by the outlet revealed that school principal Kristina Murray had already been made aware of concerns that Baird was spending too much time with the boy during the 2023-2024 school year.
“The concerns were handled internally by another school administrator,” the outlet reported. “The affidavit does not say how the concerns were handled.”
When Murray was alerted to the police investigation earlier this year, Baird allegedly admitted to her that she “got too close” with the teen and “crossed boundaries” in an emotional relationship that she initially claimed began after he graduated, but later told the principal that it had started while he was still in school, the affidavit states.
All four counts of sexual activity with the alleged victim are dated from before he graduated, court documents state.
She had known the boy for years, since she was also his art teacher in middle school.
“He described how she befriended him, then isolated him from others” through his sophomore, junior, and senior years before the teacher-student relationship allegedly became sexual in early 2024, according to the affidavit.
The victim reportedly described how Baird contacted him from her personal cell phone, talked to him about her struggling marriage, rubbed his back and shoulders, made him hug her, and eventually sent love letters.
“I hope and pray one day I get the chance to be with you,” one letter allegedly said. “I know that I love you.”
Baird had allegedly begun meeting the teen off campus by his senior year — even obtaining his mother’s permission to take him to an arts center, where she held his hand for the first time, police said.
Back on school grounds, she is accused of escalating the physical relationship from just rubbing and hand holding to kissing him on the neck and lips after asking him multiple times “if he wanted her to kiss him,” according to the affidavit.
“He was nervous and eventually said yes,” the document says, going on to describe how the boy told detectives that he was instructed by Baird to “act normal” while the grooming continued.
On the night of his graduation ceremony, the still-underaged teen said Baird asked him to meet her in a random neighborhood to have sexual intercourse in her vehicle.
“The student said he was nervous and felt pressured,” but said yes after the teacher allegedly said that it was fine because his ceremony had already taken place.
She is accused of trying to give him alcohol afterwards, but he said he refused.
A since-deleted Facebook post reviewed by the New York Post revealed that Baird was announced as “Teacher of the Month” by her former school in 2020.
While the school year was still in session but seniors were no longer in class, police said she continued to meet up with the student several times for more sex in the back of her vehicle.
Baird also allegedly sent him naked photos of herself, some of which he saved “knowing he could use them as evidence of what she did,” according to the affidavit.
The sexual encounters allegedly continued after the school year was over, but the teen cut off communication at one point when he “understood the relationship he had with Baird was inappropriate and he had been manipulated by Baird,” documents state.
When the boy ended things, the teacher was accused of repeatedly going to his workplace and even leaving candy on his car parked in his driveway.
The teen eventually reported the activities to his family and provided the nude photos as evidence, police said.
Baird was arrested on May 22 before being released from jail on a $50,000 bond. Her arraignment is set for December 19.
The staff directory for Wichita North High School no longer lists her.
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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