US Teacher Charged With Multiple Counts Of Sexual Abuse Against Minors

A former US teacher has been charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse after a female relative came forward to report her to the police.

Taji Hillson was arrested on July 2 on one count of sexual assault against a minor under the age of 14, one offence of sexual assault, and three charges of lewdness with a minor under the age of 14,  according to public records from the Washoe County Sheriff's Office (WCSO).

Hillson, a 62-year-old former substitute physical education teacher at Roy Gomm Elementary School in the Washoe County School District in Reno, Nevada, was employed there from September 2022 through June 2025.

She admitted to drugging the victim and touching at least a dozen youngsters inappropriately over the years.

The Reno Police Department released an arrest report against Ms Hillson on Friday and set her bail at $5 million, KOLO News 8 reported.

On April 30, an adult female relative reported Hillson to authorities, alleging the former PE teacher had drugged her using Benadryl and sexually abused her for decades. The sexual abuse allegedly started when the victim was a youngster and continued into adulthood.

"Throughout her childhood and adulthood, she would feel sexual pleasure while sleeping and often wake up with... (Hillson) hovering over her," the sexual assault report said.

The relative provided police several text exchanges in which Ms Hillson acknowledged "drugging her and touching her inappropriately."

In the two months that followed, she submitted four more complaints, each including more text disclosures from the defendant about Ms Hillson "inappropriately touching other children."

Hillson eventually admitted to drugging and harassing her cousin, including incidents of penetration around the age of 8, in a police interview on June 25, according to PEOPLE.

She also told police that she continued doing the same when a relative came home from college in 2014.

She also admitted that she had sexually touched a neighbour's two-year-old child in a public pool in the past few years, as well as at least a dozen other children, most of whom were family.

According to the report, the defendant claimed she carried out "all of the actions because she has never felt 'seen' and desired to be close with another person."

Hillson's next court hearing is scheduled for July 22, per the Reno Gazette-Journal.