A former Indiana teacher allegedly had sex with teenagers at her home after first putting her own children to bed, prosecutors have claimed.
Brittany Fortinberry, who taught in Morgan County, faces a string of sexual abuse charges, including child molestation and sexual conduct with a minor that allegedly go back to October 2023.
The 31-year-old was previously charged with multiple crimes last month, involving three of her students, one of whom was 15 at the time. The alleged incidents occurred in 2023 and 2024.
However, in court documents obtained by WTHR, prosecutors say that five new victims have since come forward and that some of the alleged victims were just 13 years old.
According to the documents, one of the victims accused Fortinberry of drugging him repeatedly and having sex with him when he was 13. The boy claimed she would invite him and his friends to her house where she would allegedly give them drugs and abuse them.
Another victim told police that Fortinberry would put her children to bed and then try to have sex with the boys, according to WTHR. When the boys hesitated, she allegedly told them, “Just let it happen,” the outlet reported.
In another incident, prosecutors said that Fortinberry allegedly spent $600 on various items for a group of teenagers and then had sex with all of them, while making them wear the mask from the movie “Scream.”
She allegedly told the teens if they reported anything, she would kill herself.
The documents allege that Fortinberry had sex with one teen she had asked to babysit her children, and another student claimed she had paid boys between $100 and $800 for photos of their genitals.
In turn, the teenagers alleged, Fortinberry would send them nude and explicit photos and videos on Snapchat and an app called “Session.”
Prosecutors have now filed a motion to add 10 counts of child molestation, eight counts of dissemination of matter harmful to a minor, five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of sexual misconduct with a minor.
Those charges are in addition to three counts of sexual misconduct, one count of dissemination of matter harmful to minors and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor that had previously been filed against Fortinberry.
Fortinberry had worked first as a substitute for Martinsville schools before being fired on January 9, 2024. She later worked at Eminence High School in Morgan County where she taught several of her alleged victims.
She resigned from Eminence on August 23, 2024, shortly after allegations against her first emerged.
Per WTHR, the new charges were filed after a Department of Child Services investigation prompted many more parents of victims to contact police. Many did not know anything was wrong until they were contacted by the organization.
In addition, Fortinberry’s husband, Nicholas Fortinberry, has been charged with intimidation and failure to report.
The Independent has reached out to the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office for more information about the case.
