Dickinson ISD educator allegedly sent money to student who blackmailed her

Galveston, County - Newly released court documents detail the evidence investigators say led to the arrest of a Dickinson ISD educator accused of having an improper relationship with a 16-year-old student.

The probable cause affidavit alleges the student admitted to blackmailing 46-year-old Kristi Rae Hanks for money after the two began exchanging sexually explicit messages and images.

A witness also told investigators the teenager claimed Hanks provided him with approximately $2,000 and a firearm after he threatened to expose their alleged relationship.

Hanks denied having a personal or physical relationship with the student. She also denied communicating with him outside of school, giving him money, providing him with a gun or being blackmailed.

Hanks is charged with improper relationship between an educator and a student, a second-degree felony.

How the case began:

According to the affidavit, the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office began investigating in early August after receiving a report from the Galveston County Juvenile Justice Center.

Hanks worked for Dickinson ISD and was assigned to provide instruction at the Galveston County Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program. The student involved in the case attended the program during the previous school year and was expected to return to Hanks’ classroom when school resumed, according to the affidavit.

Investigators were initially told that the student had claimed he was having a sexual relationship with a teacher and was blackmailing her.

A person interviewed by staff at the Juvenile Justice Center initially denied the allegations and allowed staff to search his phone. The affidavit says nothing supporting the allegation was found during that search.

The student also initially denied having a relationship with Hanks when contacted by investigators on August 7.

Hanks denied allegations:

Investigators interviewed Hanks at the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office Bacliff substation.

According to the affidavit, Hanks confirmed the teenager had been one of her students but denied having any personal or physical relationship with him outside of her role as his teacher.

Hanks also denied buying or providing him with a firearm, giving him money or being blackmailed.

The affidavit says Hanks told investigators she did not have the student’s number saved in her phone. She voluntarily allowed an investigator to check her contacts, and the number was not stored there.

Hanks said she had never previously been accused of inappropriate behavior involving a student and was shocked by the allegation, according to the affidavit.

The gun investigation:

The firearm became part of the investigation after officials learned Hanks had previously purchased a Glock and reported it stolen.

According to the affidavit, Hanks purchased a Glock G45 from a Texas City firearms dealer on April 15. She told La Marque police she last saw the gun beneath the driver’s seat of her vehicle on April 18 or 19.

Hanks reported the firearm stolen on May 10.

Investigators later learned that the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office had recovered the gun while investigating an unrelated aggravated robbery in San Leon.

In that separate case, an unidentified masked man allegedly robbed a business owner at gunpoint. Deputies later found clothing and a firearm in nearby woods.

The affidavit says Hanks’ stolen gun had a purple grip and what appeared to be an attached laser. An investigator said it appeared similar to the gun a witness described seeing in the teenager’s possession during a video call.

That witness told investigators the student had claimed Hanks gave him the firearm and approximately $2,000 after he threatened to report their alleged relationship. The witness said the teenager displayed the gun during a FaceTime call but did not show the money.

The affidavit does not accuse the student of committing the aggravated robbery or establish that Hanks directly handed him the gun.

Hanks denied providing the student with a firearm.

Phone records reviewed:

Investigators obtained Hanks’ phone records through a grand jury subpoena.

According to the affidavit, the records showed more than 20 connections between Hanks’ phone and the student’s number beginning April 15.

The records documented when calls or text-message connections occurred, but they did not contain the conversations themselves.

Investigators said most of the contact occurred during April and August.

The affidavit says Hanks and the student communicated on August 6—the same day Juvenile Justice Center officials began their investigation.

The records also allegedly showed contact between the two on August 7, during the period when investigators interviewed the student and Hanks separately.

Investigators said the final contact shown in those records was a 31-minute phone call on August 11.

The investigator wrote that the records appeared to contradict Hanks’ statement that she did not communicate with the student outside of school.

Student changes account:

The student initially denied having a relationship with Hanks. However, according to the affidavit, his mother later contacted an investigator and said her son wanted to provide additional information.

During a subsequent interview, the student alleged that he and Hanks had exchanged sexually explicit messages and images through text messages and FaceTime calls.

He also alleged that they met twice at a park in Hanks’ vehicle. The student said they intended to engage in sexual activity, but Hanks became scared and left before it occurred.

The teenager also accused Hanks of initiating sexual contact with him at school.

Those claims are allegations contained in the affidavit and have not been proven in court.

Blackmail allegation:

The student admitted to blackmailing Hanks because he knew the alleged relationship was wrong, according to the affidavit.

He told investigators he threatened to report Hanks unless she sent him money. He said she made payments through Cash App and sometimes gave him cash when they met.

The teenager also claimed Hanks instructed him to delete his Cash App account and remove evidence of their communications from his phone.

Investigators said the student voluntarily allowed them to take and examine the device.

Evidence from phone:

According to the affidavit, a forensic examination of the student’s phone uncovered several items investigators believe supported parts of his account.

Hanks’ phone number had allegedly been deleted from the student’s contacts but had previously been stored under a different name.

Investigators also found email notifications from August 6 and 7 that appeared to show Cash App payments from Hanks.

The affidavit says preserved notifications contained incoming messages attributed to Hanks, although investigators could not recover the student’s side of the conversation.

In one message, the sender said she could send $250 immediately because additional money was still pending in her bank account.

Another message referred to sending a total of $450. A later message said an additional $200 would be sent the following morning.

Other messages attributed to Hanks referred to the student holding something "over my head," asked him to turn her in and appeared to acknowledge responsibility for what had happened.

The affidavit also describes messages in which the sender threatened self-harm. Those messages were among the evidence investigators provided to the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office.

What legal expert says:

FOX 26 spoke with attorney Vik Vij, president-elect of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, who is not involved in the case.

Vij said the teenager’s alleged blackmail could be relevant to his credibility and could become a factor during the punishment phase if Hanks is convicted.

However, Vij said that allegation would not erase the legal questions surrounding the educator’s alleged conduct.

"I think that’s definitely more of a punishment issue than a guilt-innocence issue," Vij said. "The initial phase of trial is guilt-innocence: Is the accused guilty or not guilty of the crime? If they’re found guilty, it goes to punishment, which is a whole second proceeding."

Vij also said a student in this situation could not legally consent to a relationship with an educator.

"Because this is a student, they cannot consent," Vij said. "Even if he wasn’t a student and even if she wasn’t an educator, he could not consent to that relationship based on his age of 16."

Any potential criminal case stemming from the alleged blackmail would require a separate investigation and charging decision.

Authorities have not announced any charges against the student.

Hanks arrested:

The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office said investigators collected physical and digital evidence, interviewed multiple people and presented their findings to the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office.

An arrest warrant was issued on August 19. Deputies arrested Hanks during a traffic stop near her La Marque home.

The Sheriff’s Office said the District Attorney’s Office determined probable cause existed to charge Hanks with improper relationship between an educator and a student and recommended a $100,000 bond.

District responds:

Dickinson ISD said it placed Hanks on administrative leave before learning she had been arrested.

The district said it took that action immediately after receiving information about the allegations and while the investigation was still pending.

"The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority," the district said. "Dickinson ISD takes allegations involving student safety and employee conduct extremely seriously."

The district said it would continue cooperating with law enforcement and other authorities. It also said it would protect the confidentiality of the student and the integrity of the ongoing investigation.

Hanks is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

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