GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Police arrested a Sevier County teacher on Tuesday on charges that allege he sexually abused and exploited a child.
Sevier County Schools said it suspended 32-year-old Nathan McKinley Maples from Sevierville in February. Administrators said they learned from a parent that the teacher may have been engaged in inappropriate activity with a child.
SCS said school officials reported the allegations to law enforcement and suspended Maples indefinitely pending the outcome of the investigation. It said he remains on suspension.
On Monday, a Sevier County grand jury returned an eight-count indictment against Maples. He is charged with four counts of statutory rape by an authority figure, one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, one count of aggravated sexual battery, one count of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of exploitation of a minor by electronic means.
According to the indictment, Maples had sexual contact with a child under 13 years old beginning in Dec. 2021. It said he continuously sexually abused a child between Dec. 2022 and Feb. 2024.
The Gatlinburg Police Department arrested Maples on Tuesday, April 30. His arrest report showed he was being held as a pretrial felon on a $100,000 bond and was released Tuesday night.