The Polk County Sheriff's Office announced on Thursday that a former teacher has been arrested for sexual offenses against a student. A 19-year-old woman and former student reported on Dec. 10 that she had a sexual relationship with 36-year-old Donald Mitchell of Lakeland, the sheriff's office said in a press release. The relationship began in October 2023, when the teen was still a student at Kathleen High School, to November 2024, after her graduation. The former Kathleen High School teacher is now working for the Polk County School Board as a Community Outreach Facilitator, investigators said. He was placed on administrative leave as the investigation unfolded, but he has since resigned. "Mitchell denied there was any sexual component to their relationship until after the student had graduated, but admitted to texting her often," the sheriff's office explained. "Mitchell told detectives that he deleted a lot of text messages between he and the victim because he did not want his wife to find them." MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/polkcounty/polk-county-teacher-arrested/67-4f899fc3-57e0-4562-9cdb-9866cf1804c1