Teacher caught naked with student reportedly married to US government official

ELKHORN, Neb. (WKRC) — A teacher who was caught naked with a student is reportedly married to a high-ranking United States government official.

According to The New York Post,45-year-old Erin Ward, who allegedly confessed to having sex with a 17-year-old student from Burke High School where she worked, is married to Doug Ward, a high-ranking federal government employee. Their relationship was reported first by the Daily Mail. Per the outlet, the couple shares three children together.

Per The Post, citing a LinkedIn page, Doug Ward has spent almost two decades with the U.S. Strategic Command, which is headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska. The command, one of the unified combatant commands within the Department of Defense, is tasked with detecting and deterring attacks against the United States and its allies.

Doug Ward's career began in 2005, serving as deputy branch chief until he was eventually promoted to deputy director of the commander's action group in February, per The Post, citing a LinkedIn profile.

According to the publication, Doug Ward earned degrees from Bellevue University, the University of Illinois and Harvard University, and is currently working to obtain his doctorate in defense and strategic studies at Missouri State University.

Erin Ward was arrested and charged with one count of felony sexual abuse by a school employee after she was caught naked in a car with an undressed student on Saturday. Deputies responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle parked in a neighborhood at around 3 a.m. When police arrived, they saw two individuals in the backseat of a Honda sedan.

One of the individuals scrambled into the driver's seat and fled from police, but eventually crashed into a yard only a few blocks away.

Police saw an undressed teenager flee on foot, with authorities locating him a little more than an hour later in a nearby neighborhood in underwear and a T-shirt.

At the crash scene, authorities found a woman, who was dressing herself in the backseat, according to the outlet, which reported that she identified herself as Erin Ward. Deputies found an Omaha Public Schools employee ID inside the car, per the outlet, with Erin Ward reportedly telling police that she was a substitute teacher at Burke High School and other metro schools.

An investigation is ongoing.