Ex-Sparks High teacher charged with having sex with pupil

Thursday, Sept. 7, 2000 | 9:25 a.m.

Diane Flanary, 31, surrendered to authorities Wednesday and released on $1,500 bond, said Chief Deputy District Attorney David Clifton. She is charged with two counts of unlawful sexual conduct by a school employee with a minor.

Allegations that the English teacher told the 17-year-old student he was the father of her infant daughter surfaced at the school March 3.

Flanary resigned her position on March 10 after police began investigating reports shed had a five-month affair with the student.

DNA tests later showed the father of the infant girl was Flanary's husband. But during the investigation the student admitted having had sex with the teacher several times.

"We've spent the last six to eight months following up on investigative leads," Clifton said. "That included search warrants and seizure orders not only here in Reno but in Seattle and San Francisco to gather information regarding the baby, the DNA tests and questioning other witnesses."

Flanary's baby, Alicia Nicole, was born Jan. 25 at Washoe Medical Center with heart problems and was being treated at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco, court documents said.

A court affidavit from school district police said the Flanary and her husband separated after she told him about the affair.

Flanary returned to Reno with her 3-month-old daughter at the end of March, but the baby died earlier this summer, Flanary's lawyer, Scott Freeman, said.

In 1997, the Nevada Legislature made it a felony for a teacher to have sex with a student. The law stemmed from a 1996 incident in Pahrump in which a 20-year teacher pleaded guilty to sexual assault on a student.

If convicted, Flanary could face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each count, Clifton said.