Julie Hoover: Florida teacher arrested for ‘twerking’ on 18-year-old student, forcing alcohol at prom
FLORIDA, USA: After forcing an 18-year-old boy to prom and pressuring him to drink, a Florida teacher was arrested and fired from a $7,000-a-year Christian private school. According to the Taylor County Sheriff's Office, Julie Hoover, 39, was arrested on September 6 after she allegedly put an alcoholic drink straw in the mouth of a teen and danced to him. On April 8, Hoover was at the Point of Grace Christian School prom when a student accused her of dancing to him. According to a press release, "every time he got on or even near the dance floor, Julie Hoover would come over and start 'twerking' on him (rubbing her bum on him)." Other students pleaded with her to stop.
According to WCTV News, a school official confirmed to investigators that alcohol was hidden at the dance party for staff to consume after the students left. As a result, the former teacher is charged with providing alcohol to a minor and engaging in inappropriate behavior with a student. Hoover was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of sexting with an 18-year-old senior. It is unclear whether the two incidents involve the same senior. Point of Grace Christian School did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.
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Julie Hoover, 39, was arrested on September 6 after allegedly putting a straw containing an alcoholic drink in the mouth of a teen. Her recent mugshot is shown above. Hoover worked as a math teacher at Point of Grace Christian School. An anonymous school official commented on Hoover's initial arrest but did not elaborate on the charges against the former teacher.
On June 8, Hoover was arrested after the mother of an 18-year-old reported to police that her son had explicit messages from the teacher on his phone. According to the mother, Hoover attempted to entice the teen into her home while her husband was away. The student was enrolled in a few classes taught by Hoover when the messages were sent in March and April. She was released on $15,000 bail the day after her first arrest, according to WCTV News.com.
Hoover graduated from St Leo University in Florida and had a lengthy history of her previous and current employment on LinkedIn before deleting her account. She has been a math teacher at the Christian school since 2018, according to People.com. In addition, Hoover previously worked as a finance director for the Boys & Girls Clubs.
In a similar incident, Hayley Close-Hallmark, a high school teacher in the sunny state of Florida, was arrested in February and April 2021 for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old student in her classroom and having sexual encounters with a minor at a school dance competition. Close-Hallmark, 35, taught and coached history at Ruckel Middle School in Niceville, Florida.
Hayley was suspended from her teaching job without pay and pleaded not guilty to her charges. When she assisted Close-Hallmark in coaching the school's girls soccer team, the former teacher is said to have had "numerous" sexual encounters with her victim. At the time, the victim was in ninth grade.
During the 2017-18 school year, they would text each other, which evolved into sexting. The victim's relationship is said to have become physical when she transferred to high school in August 2018. Sexual encounters allegedly occurred in Close-classroom, at Hallmark's, and the victims and Close-homes. According to reports, the relationship lasted two years before ending in August 2020.