Rebecca Mason-Cales, 26, of Boise, was arrested Tuesday, Feb. 13, accused of having a sexual relationship with a student; but it’s the rapid response from police that has folks talking.
Less than five hours — that’s the amount of time it took Meridian Police to arrest Mason-Cales after hearing concerns from the West Ada School District.
“Oftentimes we’re not that lucky, where everything falls into place,” said Deputy Chief Tracy Basterrechea with the Meridian Police Department. “But our officers were able to use some investigative techniques which really sped up the timeline for us.”
It all started late Monday night with an anonymous email sent to the principal of Mountain View High School from a former student.
“[The principal] sent a follow-up email asking for more detail — you know, it’s anonymous, you’re not quite sure what this is about — got a reply the next morning with specific information in it and he became concerned,” said Eric Exline, West Ada School District Spokesman.
Police were able to quickly gather evidence and determined a sexual relationship between Mason-Cales and a 17-year-old student began in August of last year.
“It really highlights the importance of cooperation between law enforcement and school districts in their communities,” Basterrechea said. “…because the school district was amazing in jumping on this quickly, getting in contact with us, and letting us run the investigation the way it needed to be run.”
Both Meridian Police and the district do not believe there are any other victims at this time.
Mason-Cales is facing six felony counts of sexual battery of a minor. Her bond is set at $20,000 and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 7.
