HOUSTON – A young man who had an affair with his high school teacher said it was something he had dreamed about, but did not realize it would cause so much trouble in his life.
Joshua Whittingham, 20, spoke to Local 2 Investigates in an exclusive interview because he said he wants to stop other students from making the same mistake.
"Before I met her, I was outgoing and social. I was on the swim team my ninth-grade year after playing football," Whittingham told investigative reporter Jace Larson. "Then I started having an affair with my teacher and that's when I started failing geometry. I stopped attending classes. I stopped showing up to practice."
Whittingham said his affair with Lindsey Garcia-Yazdi, who taught Spanish at Hastings High School in the Alief School District, started after she sent him a message on Facebook.
"It was really just friendly talk, but as far as talk goes, it wasn't school-related. It was more like personal life, her personal life, about her husband, her house and photography and my personal life, as far as swimming and staying active in swimming," he said.
Whittingham, 20, who is now in college and works as a lifeguard, said Garcia-Yazdi made the first physical move.
"In high school, I let a lot of teachers know, ‘Hey, you look good today.' She took it a step further by sending me a message on Facebook, which I never expected," Whittingham said.
Facebook exchanges turned into a lot more near Whittingham's West Houston house.
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"It was Christmas break and she came and picked me up and from there, once we went to my neighborhood, we were at a local park and we were talking. From there we got physical in a sexual manner," Whittingham said.
Whittingham said soon he and Garcia-Yazdi, who was married, were having a secret affair.
"I guess being younger, some younger guys will be attracted to older women and she definitely caught my eye," Whittingham said. "That was something once upon a time I dreamed about, but now that it's happening, it's exactly the opposite of what I imagined it to be."
His grades started plummeting and he got into trouble with police.
"I couldn't even tell my own mother. We were really close. Nobody got to know this," he said. "I got a lot of motivation sucked out of me. I kind of had to end swimming."
Whittingham's mom, Kimberly, said she couldn't tell what was wrong with her son.
"I would've never thought that. I was like, 'Joshua, Are you involved in some gang?' Characters in his life became different. Everything changed in that time span," Kimberly Whittingham said.
The relationship continued for three years, until someone threw a large rock through Joshua's bedroom window. He said he suspects it was someone related to his teacher.
"Immediately after the rock came through the window, he called and said, ‘Hey, next time it won't be a rock. It'll be six slugs in your (expletive)'" Joshua Whittingham said.
Joshua Whittingham decided to come clean with his mom and police.
Garcia-Yazdi lost her job and was charged with improper relationship with a student. She avoided a long prison sentence and received a deferred sentence, according to Harris County Court records posted online. She has to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.
Joshua Whittingham said he couldn't say if anyone could have done something that would have prevented his relationship with his teacher.
"I had my mom, who used to ask a bunch of questions. You want to tell people so bad, but you have the teacher in your ear saying, 'Don't tell anybody. I could get fired. I could lose my whole career.' You're up against that. It's hard to let one person know," he said.
His mom said she wished she pushed her son harder, but said she did the best she could. She said she now feels she has a very strong relationship with her son and encourages others to develop the same relationship.
"Pay close attention to social media, Facebook. Now it's Instagram and all that, Snapchat and all these other entities. You just have to pay close attention," Kimberly Whittingham said. "Most of all, he and I have a very close relationship. I make sure every day that I ask him, ‘How is your day?' Or try to talk to him. But they still hide. You just have to go on your parental instincts," she said.
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