Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Two Teachers of the Year Behind Bars for Heinous Crimes Against Children | Crime Alert 12.05.25

Transcript

Two Teachers of the Year Behind Bars for Heinous Crimes Against Children | Crime Alert 12.05.25 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alart hourly update breaking crime news Now, I'm Sidney Sumner.
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  Speaker 1: Two Southern teachers of the Year are now facing crimes
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  Speaker 1: related to children. An Alabama elementary school teacher was arrested
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  Speaker 1: this week and charged with willful abuse of a child
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  Speaker 1: under eighteen after a video went viral showing her allegedly
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  Speaker 1: beating a boy with a belt more than twenty times.
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  Speaker 1: Cottage Chill Christian Academy said the boy was Nicole Staples's son,
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  Speaker 1: and the incident took place at her home. In the video,
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  Speaker 1: the woman identified as Staples yell's obscenities at the child
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  Speaker 1: and beats him for not finishing his chores. She's also
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  Speaker 1: seen slamming the boy to the ground by his hair
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  Speaker 1: and jerking him back up again. The viral videos described
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  Speaker 1: as very disturbing and hard to watch. The school said
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  Speaker 1: it placed Staples, forty four, on administrative leave when it
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  Speaker 1: learned about the allegations, and fired her when she was arrested.
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  Speaker 1: School administrator Chris Brizel said, quote, Cottage Chill Christian Academy
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  Speaker 1: prioritizes the well being of children above all else. We
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  Speaker 1: will always act promptly, transparently, and responsibly when matters arise
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  Speaker 1: that may impact the safety or integrity of our school community.
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  Speaker 1: The school said it was cooperating with state and local
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  Speaker 1: officials as they continue their investigation. Staples was a second
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  Speaker 1: grade teacher at the school and named co Teacher of
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  Speaker 1: the Year in May. Staples is to appear in court
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  Speaker 1: for a bond hearing in the coming days. A former
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  Speaker 1: South Carolina teacher who sent over sixty love letters to
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  Speaker 1: a student he stocked has pleaded guilty to harassment. Twenty
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  Speaker 1: seven year old Dylan Robert Dukes admitted in court Wednesday
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  Speaker 1: he contacted the victim after she left Star Elementary School
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  Speaker 1: in Anderson County. After realizing she would no longer attend
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  Speaker 1: the school, he joined her church. Dukes also engaged in
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  Speaker 1: a string of obsessive behavior, including writing the love letters,
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  Speaker 1: presenting the student with gifts and unwanted hucks, beginning all
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  Speaker 1: the way back in twenty twenty three. In July twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty four, the victim's mother stated that her daughter became
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  Speaker 1: uncomfortable as Dukes began showing up at functions he should
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  Speaker 1: not have been at the saute. My child has had
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  Speaker 1: to endure moments of uncomfortability in places like church, school,
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  Speaker 1: and sports, where my child should be comfortable and able
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  Speaker 1: to enjoy being a child. Investigators said Duke's behavior had
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  Speaker 1: been leading toward criminal sexual conduct. A news released by
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  Speaker 1: the Sheriff's office stated detectives were able to stop the
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  Speaker 1: harassment in Stoking before it became anything physical, which the
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  Speaker 1: juvenile was in fear of. According to the Anderson County
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  Speaker 1: Sheriff's Office, investigators searched Duke's classroom and found photos of
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  Speaker 1: the child which were not sexual in nature. Police then
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  Speaker 1: arrested Dukes and charged him with stocking. During wednesday's plea hearing,
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  Speaker 1: Duke's pleaded guilty to first degree harassment. A judge sentenced
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  Speaker 1: him to three years behind bars, which was suspended to
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  Speaker 1: five years of probation. He's also required to surrender his
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  Speaker 1: teaching certificate and undergo mental health counseling. The judge also
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  Speaker 1: approved a permanent restraining order which prohibits any contact with
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  Speaker 1: the victim. Star Elementary named Duke's teacher of the Year
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  Speaker 1: for the twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four schools.
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  Speaker 1: More crime and justice news after this, A Florida man
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  Speaker 1: is behind bars for murdering a woman who allegedly flew
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  Speaker 1: from the United Kingdom to be killed. Sonia Exelby was
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  Speaker 1: reportedly experiencing mental health issues when she met Dwayne Hall
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  Speaker 1: fifty three, on a fetish site where she sought someone
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  Speaker 1: to abuse her. Exelby flew from the United Kingdom to
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  Speaker 1: Florida a week before her body was found in a
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  Speaker 1: shallow grave out of Marian Oak's home on October seventeenth.
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  Speaker 1: Alarms were raised before Exelby's body was discovered because she
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  Speaker 1: failed to board a flight back home. On October thirteenth.
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  Speaker 1: Fingerprints were taken from the body to confirm it was Exelby.
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  Speaker 1: An autopsy concluded Exelby was fatally stabbed four times with
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  Speaker 1: a knife. Hall was recorded in jail calls telling his
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  Speaker 1: wife to keep an eye out for a package from
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  Speaker 1: an Ohio friend in six months. This led to the
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  Speaker 1: discovery of Facebook messages that Hall allegedly sent from jail
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  Speaker 1: to the friend, who lives in Ohio. Authorities eventually obtained
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  Speaker 1: the package, which reportedly contained a knife stained with Exelby's blood.
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  Speaker 1: Investigator said the Facebook messages Hall sent to the friend
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  Speaker 1: showed that Hall was controlling her, that she was afraid
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  Speaker 1: and had made a mistake. Surveillance footage allegedly showed Hall
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  Speaker 1: purchasing a shovel, which was later recovered from his home.
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  Speaker 1: The shovel not only contained his in Exelby's DNA, but
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  Speaker 1: a label for a shovel was found in the shallow grave.
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  Speaker 1: The label matched the brand of shovel Hall was seen
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  Speaker 1: purchasing in the surveillance footage. While Hall initially denied knowing Exelby,
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  Speaker 1: records indicated that his business build expenses on Exelby's bank card. Additionally,
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  Speaker 1: license plate readers confirmed Hall's vehicle picked up Exelby from
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  Speaker 1: the Gainesville Airport on October tenth. According to investigators, bank
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  Speaker 1: records and surveillance footage also established that Hall bought a
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  Speaker 1: shovel right before picking up Exelby from the airport. Eventually,
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  Speaker 1: Hall allegedly confessed to meeting Exelby on a fetish site
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  Speaker 1: two years earlier. He claimed that he was acting as
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  Speaker 1: a mentor to Exelby and was trying to convince her
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  Speaker 1: not to kill herself. He reportedly also admitted to having
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  Speaker 1: sex with Xelby at an airbnb. Hall also stated that
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  Speaker 1: he had some violent tendencies. Investigators recovered a video Hall
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  Speaker 1: deleted which showed Hall asking Xelby, covered in bruises, why
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  Speaker 1: she was there. X'lby responded, because I'm an awful person.
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  Speaker 1: I've crushed everyone whoever loves me. X'lby allegedly sent this
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  Speaker 1: message to a friend on discord on October eleventh. He
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  Speaker 1: made it clear there was no way out unless I
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  Speaker 1: shoot him. I was questioning it last night. I thought
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  Speaker 1: he'd do it quick and not give my mind time
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  Speaker 1: to stew. Authorities in the United Kingdom said Xelby looked
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  Speaker 1: for someone to kill her last year, but she was
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  Speaker 1: stopped and underwent treatment. Hall was charged with first degree murder, kidnapping,
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  Speaker 1: credit card fraud, and unlawful use of a communication device.
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  Speaker 1: A judge denied him bond earlier this week. For the
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  Speaker 1: latest crime and justice breaking news, be sure to follow
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  Speaker 1: the Crime Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app
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  Speaker 1: with this crime Alert. I'm Sidney Sumner.