Southern California Teacher Arrested for Alleged Sexual Relationship With Student

A Southern California high school teacher was arrested Wednesday for forming a sexual relationship with a student that started when the victim was 15, police said.

Rebecca Eileen Diebolt, a 35-year-old language arts teacher and swim and water polo coach at Valencia High School in Placentia, had a sexual relationship with the girl from 2004 to 2008, police said. The relationship allegedly carried on after the girl graduated from high school and went to college.

The victim told police that she and Diebolt had multiple sexual encounters that occurred in Diebolt’s classroom, as well as Diebolt’s home after school and on weekends.

Diebolt was arrested without incident at a shopping center parking lot in Brea, police said. She faces charges of oral copulation and sexual penetration with a person under 18.

School staff told NBC4 they were shocked by the allegations and that Diebolt is married with a family.

Diebolt’s school biography states she has worked at Valencia High since 2003. NBC4 left a voicemail message for the school's principal requesting comment.

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Police are asking any other possible victims to come forward.

Jail records indicated bond had been posted Thursday morning.

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