A California substitute special education teacher and wife of a high-ranking military officer is in jail on a $1.75 million bond after being arrested on charges of incest.
Dawn Giannini, 49 and mother of two teenagers, is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old family member from Nov. 2014 to Nov. 2015, CBS 17 News reported.
San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe would not confirm exactly how Giannini and the teen, now 17-years-old, were related.
Elementary School Teacher in Palo Alto Arrested After Videos Surface of Her Engaging in Sexual Acts With a Minor – NBC Bay Area https://t.co/dLGfRO4OR1
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Allegedly, Giannini took video of her and the girl having sex, but police believe it was the teen who uploaded the video to PornHub.
A Woodside High School classmate of the teen was browsing the porn site and saw the video of the teacher and the teen, The Daily Mail reported.
The classmate told the school principal, who notified authorities, leading to Giannini’s arrest.
Giannini was booked into Redwood City jail Oct. 17, and faces charges including seven counts of lewd acts on a child, six counts of oral copulation on a child under 16 years old, six counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object, one count of showing porn to a child, and one count of incest, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“We know the victim was sexually active, and there were a lot of videos that were uploaded. We know that this occurred in at least two counties. It occurred here in our county, in Redwood City and there was a trip down to Santa Cruz that she took with the victim and there was sexual activity there,” DA Wagstaffe said.
Giannini is the wife of Thomas Giannini, a highly respected U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel who has had three overseas deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Giannini was a 4th grade teacher at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic School in Palo Alto since 2015, The Palo Alto Daily Post reported.
She has been fired from the Redwood City School District and is banned from ever working in the district again.
John Baker, the Redwood City School District Superintendent sent parents an email regarding the incident and said the information is “truly heartbreaking.”
Authorities have no reason at this time to believe that Giannini acted inappropriately with any of her students, but they are investigating.
Wagstaffe said Giannini did not enter a plea when she appeared in court on Thursday. She is due back in court Nov. 5.
