Georgia Teacher Charged with Additional Sex Abuse Counts

A Georgia science teacher already facing charges for alleged sexual contact with one student has been accused of abusing five more teenagers, according to newly released arrest warrants. Maris Nichols, 25, was re-arrested Thursday and charged with child molestation, evidence tampering and grooming.

The new counts involve five additional accusers, at least one of whom authorities say had sexual contact with Nichols in a public location.

Nichols had been charged nearly two weeks earlier with sexually assaulting a student at least twice, once inside a classroom closet at Alexander High School in Douglasville and once inside a parked Hummer. She had worked at the school as a science teacher and football operations manager since May 2023.

The new warrants state that Nichols allegedly had sex with one of the additional accusers in the student's car at a golf course parking lot the day after the Hummer incident. She is also accused of sending explicit photos to a girl and encouraging her to watch the "Fifty Shades of Grey" films before discussing them.

According to the warrants, Nichols allegedly used a sex toy during video calls with at least two students under age 16 and sent text messages describing sexual acts she wanted to perform. Three days before her first arrest, she reportedly instructed one of the teens to delete their communications.

The Douglas County School System stated that it launched an investigation upon learning of the alleged misconduct. The district said student safety is its highest priority and that the alleged behavior violates professional standards for employees. Nichols graduated from Liberty University, a private evangelical Christian school that maintains a policy requiring students to abstain from sexual activity outside of marriage.