Local teacher facing felonies

CELINA - Celina police officers on Monday afternoon arrested Heather Henry, a 47-year-old Immaculate Conception School teacher, on charges alleging an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy, according to a news release from police chief Tom Wale.

Three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a third-degree felony, were filed on Monday in Celina Municipal Court against Henry, according to the news release. The teen is neither a Celina resident nor an IC student, officials noted.

The police department on Friday received a report of an inappropriate sexual relationship involving Henry and the boy, the release stated. The alleged relationship occurred and continued over Christmas break, according to the release.

Celina police officers at 5:16 p.m. Monday arrested Henry at her Celina residence, according to Wale.

She had been held at the Mercer County Jail on $100,000 bond, subject to 10 percent cash. Her bond was posted at about 7 p.m., Wale said in the release. An arraignment date will be set in Celina Municipal Court.

IC Principal Polly Muhlenkamp wrote an email earlier Monday to the parents of students enrolled at the private Catholic school that a teacher had been placed on administrative leave amid an allegation of inappropriate contact with a minor.

Muhlenkamp wrote that she had been made aware of an allegation that "one of our teachers has had inappropriate contact with a minor."

She did not disclose the name of the teacher but said the teacher had been placed on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation, a practice consistent with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's policy.

"We have no idea if the allegation has any merit," she wrote. "The Celina Police Department is investigating."

Muhlenkamp said the safety of students is of paramount importance to school officials.

"We follow both the spirit and the letter of the Archdiocese Decree on Child Protection," she wrote. "I will keep you informed of any important updates in this matter. In the meantime, please join me in praying for truth and healing."

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati's Decree on Child Protection "seeks to protect, enhance and, in some cases, restore the trust that our faith calls for between agents of the Church and the children, adolescents and vulnerable adults entrusted to their care," Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr wrote in a document posted on the archdiocese's website.

The Decree on Child Protection aims to prevent the abuse of children and adolescents and to provide a system for handling incidents of abuse after they occur, according to a summary brochure listed on the website.