A substitute teacher in Omaha, Nebraska, is facing a felony charge of sexual abuse by a school staffer after allegedly being found with a 17-year-old male student in a compromising situation. The incident has revealed the teacher’s connection to a high-ranking government official in the Department of Defense.
Erin Ward, 45, was allegedly discovered by Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies “undressed” in a car with the student around 3:00 a.m. on a dead-end road. The deputies were responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle when they came upon the pair, who reportedly rushed to put their clothes back on before the teenager fled the scene in the driver’s seat, crashing just two blocks away.
The boy, wearing only boxers, a T-shirt, and socks, ran off on foot and was found by police after over an hour of searching. The car involved in the incident was later determined to belong to Ward and her husband, William Douglas “Doug” Ward.
Doug Ward, a graduate of the Harvard Extension School, was appointed Deputy Director of the Commander’s Action Group and Senior Nuclear Deterrence Advisor at the United States Strategic Command in February. The Strategic Command’s headquarters is located in Omaha, and the couple resides in nearby Gretna with their three teenage children.
Erin Ward, who worked at multiple local schools, met the teenage boy at Burke High School. When officers made the discovery, Ward admitted to having sex with the student. As the age of consent in Nebraska is 16, Ward was not charged with statutory rape but faces a Class IIA felony charge carrying up to 20 years in prison.
Following the incident, Burke’s principal announced that Ward would not be returning to any school campuses in the area. The revelation of Ward’s alleged misconduct and her husband’s high-level position in the Department of Defense has sent shockwaves through the Omaha community.
