Cape Coral teacher accused of fathering student’s child

A former teacher and coach at a Cape Coral school is accused of fathering a child with a former student, but he didn’t get fired. He kept working for the same school almost 10 years until police arrested him for having sex with a different student.

Newly discovered, the state attorney’s office said James Harris, a former teacher at Mariner High School, began a sexual relationship with a high school student for at least a month between February and March of 2008.

Cape Coral Police Department arrested James Harris in 2017 for having a sexual relationship with a different student in his class.

According to a court filing, the student was in one of Harris’ classes. She then got pregnant and had their baby shortly after she graduated. Harris continued to teach at Mariner High without any consequence before his eventual arrest in 2017.

The school district said in a statement: “The District had absolutely no knowledge of an inappropriate relationship between James Harris and a student in 2008. Had we been notified, swift action would have been taken.”

Editor’s Note: WINK News contacted the Lee County school district for comment after regular business hours Friday, the district provided comment Monday.