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	Teacher Charged with Unlawful Sex with 17-Year-Old Boy By Lyda Longa News-Journal October 23, 2008 http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/EastVolusia/evlHEAD02102308.htm They had sex anywhere they could, police said -- in the parking lots of grocery stores and under a bridge. The arrest Wednesday of a Warner Christian Academy teacher, who police say was having sex with one of her 17-year-old students, has unleashed a series of details that reveal a steamy relationship between the teen and the 45-year-old woman. An eight-page arrest affidavit released by Port Orange police paints a picture of a teacher engaging in a variety of sexual acts with the boy in her car and inside low-budget motels on Ridgewood Avenue and International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach. The documents also detail the sexually charged text messages Cynthia Horvath routinely sent to the high school senior, praising his sexual prowess but also warning him to "keep quiet" about their affair. Horvath was arrested and charged with having sex with a minor just after noon Wednesday at the Walmart in Daytona Beach, police reports show. According to her attorney, Horvath, the mother of four children -- one of whom is in the same class with the teen who was seeing Horvath -- was inside the store buying prescription medication for her husband, who is recovering from an appendectomy. An arrest affidavit released by Port Orange police Wednesday, however, shows Horvath went to Walmarts in Port Orange and Daytona Beach several times this year for other reasons. The first time Horvath and the teen had sex was in her car in the parking lot of the Walmart on Dunlawton Avenue in Port Orange, the report states. In all, the pair met 25 times for sexual romps just in Port Orange, and "in various locations in Daytona Beach as well," the report shows. Besides the Walmart parking lots, the two also met in the parking lot of the Publix supermarket on Beville Road and under the Dunlawton Bridge. They also rendezvoused at the La Quinta Inn and Super 8 motels in Daytona Beach, police say. During one of their meetings at the Walmart parking lot in Port Orange, a policeman approached Horvath's car. Teacher and teen rushed to put their clothes on, the report states. Before they could completely dress, however, Officer Jesse Pierson was at the window asking the pair what they were doing. After the two admitted they were having sex, Pierson then asked the boy whether he had paid for the act, the report shows. Horvath was not arrested and that episode is being investigated by detectives, the report shows. The romance between Horvath and the teen came to light after several Warner Christian students who had seen the teacher's racy text messages on the student's cell phone reported it to another teacher at the private South Daytona school, the report states. That teacher, Vanessa Tress, told Warner Christian Headmaster Mark Tress. Mark and Vanessa Tress are not related. Mark Tress confronted Horvath on Oct. 13 and said she admitted to having an inappropriate relationship with a student, the report shows. She resigned that same day. On Oct. 14, the headmaster called South Daytona police. South Daytona detectives learned sexual trysts between Horvath and the 12th-grader occurred in Port Orange and Daytona Beach, the report states. On Wednesday, Port Orange and Daytona Beach police charged the teacher with unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a second-degree felony. Neither of the agencies' investigations are complete. The same charges were filed by South Daytona police, said Lt. Doug Quartier, but the acts that may have occurred in his city are under investigation. The arrest took place at Walmart, said Port Orange Capt. Frank Surmaczewicz, because his investigators had been watching Horvath since a warrant was signed by Circuit Judge Patrick Kennedy. When Horvath left her residence on Mike Street in South Daytona on Wednesday morning, detectives followed her to the store, Surmaczewicz said. Horvath's lawyer, Aaron DelGado, was incensed police chose such a public place to arrest his client. "They scrambled like hungry, hungry hippos to get what they could," Delgado said. "I spoke to police and I told them I'd be happy to bring her in whenever they got a warrant. It's just really quite silly." Delgado said Horvath was never a flight risk and she knew the consequences that were coming. Delgado also said Horvath's husband is "standing by her" throughout the storm of allegations. Mark Tress did not return a call to his office on Wednesday; neither did the Rev. Stephen Birch of White Chapel Church, which is linked to the school. The Daytona Beach News-Journal does not identify victims in sexual abuse cases. The boy's father, reached Wednesday night at home, declined comment. Horvath, who was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail on $10,000 bail, did not return a call to her home. She was released from the jail Wednesday afternoon. Aside from the litany of interviews Port Orange and Daytona Beach detectives conducted with the student and several of his classmates, Port Orange detectives also took a box of keepsakes -- police called it evidence -- the boy had saved from his encounters with Horvath. The mementos included black thong underwear, plastic keys from the motels and Horvath's Warner Christian picture identification card. Contact: lyda.longa@news-jrnl.com
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