Teacher Suspected of Having Affair With Student Captured In Mexico

Nov. 3, 2007 — -- A 25-year-old schoolteacher was arrested Friday night after fleeing Nebraska to Mexico with her 13-year-old suspected lover.

Kelsey Peterson, a sixth grade math teacher and basketball coach at Lexington Middle School, was taken into FBI custody in Mexicali, Mexico, and transported back to the U.S. early Saturday. Fernando Rodriguez, the 13-year-old student was released to relatives in Mexico.

Rodriguez was last seen on Saturday, Oct. 26, one day after the school placed Peterson on administrative leave. Local police had begun investigating whether the two had an intimate relationship.

On "Good Morning America Weekend Edition" today, the boy's aunt said the family saw this storm brewing for quite some time.

"We were trying to let everybody know what was going on here," said Laura Rodriguez, Fernando's aunt.

"He would always be at her house," added the boy's cousin, Jessica Vera. "They would always be together."

Police still are investigating the nature of the relationship. Court documents revealed affectionate e-mails and love letters between Peterson and her student.

This is just the latest in a number of alleged trysts between older female teachers and younger male students.

"It's a matter of trust and vulnerability between a student and a teacher. In situations like this, the adolescent looks toward the adult for guidance," said former East St. Louis Senior High School psychologist Laura Jones. "The student sees something in his teacher that he is probably lacking in his own life."

According to the court documents, the boy wrote to Peterson saying the relationship was not based on sex. The documents also said Peterson's laptop contains letters to the boy saying she is "100 percent faithful to him."

"It's emotional immaturity on her part. She might not feel comfortable with men in her own age group," Jones said. "She's seeking affection from someone much younger than her."

Peterson now faces charges of kidnapping, child abuse, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, as well as federal charges for transporting a minor across a foreign border for sexual activity.

ABC News' Sharde Miller contributed to this report.