A married one-time “teacher of the month” in Kansas is accused of having sex with a 17-year-old student — including multiple times in the backseat of her Jeep.
Art teacher Nicole Hernandez, 30, also known as Nikki Baird, allegedly groomed the boy she’d first met in a middle school before both moved to Wichita North High School, according to an affidavit seen by the Wichita Eagle.
“He described how she befriended him, then isolated him from others” before the relationship allegedly turned sexual in early 2024, the affidavit stated.
Teacher Nikki Baird allegedly had sex with her student repeatedly in her Jeep. Faecbook / Wichita North High School Football
The physical contact “started as Baird touching or rubbing his back or shoulders,” before she began forcing him to give her hugs, according to the affidavit.
Baird told the boy “her marriage was struggling” and gave him her personal cell number, the affidavit said.
She also sent love letters, and “One letter said, ‘I hope and pray one day I get the chance to be with you’ and ‘I know that I love you,’” according to the affidavit.
By the teen’s senior year, Baird allegedly started meeting him off school grounds, even getting his mom’s approval to go on a trip to an arts center, where she held his hand for the first time, the documents state.
At school, the physical contact allegedly escalated, with Baird kissing the teen on the neck during their hugs and repeatedly asking him “if he wanted her to kiss him,” according to the affidavit.
“He was nervous and eventually said yes,” the affidavit states.
Baird told the boy to “act normal” and keep their relationship a secret, the student told investigators.
Baird told the teen her marriage was struggling over text message. Faecbook / Mayberry Cultural and Fine Arts Magnet Middle School
She allegedly invited him into her office three times during his last week of school, ordering him to touch her while “saying things to encourage him to continue touching her,” the affidavit states.
On graduation night, Baird allegedly asked the victim if he wanted to have sex in her car, after telling him to meet her in a random street, according to documents.
“The student said he was nervous and felt pressured,” the affidavit reads.
Baird allegedly told the still-underage student it was “okay,” and said that they “won’t get in trouble because he graduated,” the affidavit states.
She was arrested in May. Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office
Afterward, she offered the boy alcohol, which he refused.
Later, while classes were still in session but seniors were no longer in class, Baird allegedly would meet up with the student up to four times a week to have sex in the backseat of her Jeep, according to the affidavit.
Baird also allegedly texted the boy nude photos, some of which he later showed investigators, along with the love notes.
The teen eventually cut off the relationship with Baird, but she allegedly continued to show up at his place of work, once leaving candy on his car while it was parked in his driveway.
Baird, who was described as “Teacher of the Month” in a Facebook post from her former school in January 2020, was arrested on May 22 and was released within days after posting a $50,000 bond.
She made her first appearance in court in June after being charged with four felony counts of having unlawful sexual relations with a student, and her arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 19.
