TEACHER USED DRUG WITH GIRL, AFFIDAVITS SAY

GRAHAM - A 15-year-old student told investigators she used cocaine
twice at Graham High School with teacher Heather Renee Sweat-Melancon,
according to affidavits filed this week.

The student also snorted cocaine with Sweat-Melancon and her husband
at their mobile home in southern Alamance County, she told a Graham
police detective, and on one occasion, the teacher delivered cocaine
to the student's home.

Sweat-Melancon, a first-year physical education teacher and coach of
the junior varsity girls basketball team, was charged Wednesday with a
dozen crimes, mostly drug related, including selling drugs within 300
feet of a school and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Investigators filed the affidavits Tuesday when they sought search
warrants for Sweat-Melancon's office at Graham High School, her car
and her home at 3324-17 Bellemont-Mount Hermon Road. They outlined how
tips from students led police to charge Sweat-Melancon with selling
drugs on school grounds.

Alamance County authorities arrested Sweat-Melancon's husband,
27-year-old John Mark Melancon, on drug charges. Police seized cocaine
and marijuana from the school grounds and from the couple's mobile
home.

The student told Graham police Detective Jerome Frost that she
approached Sweat-Melancon in December about buying cocaine after
overhearing a conversation about the drug between the teacher and
another student. A week later, the student said she began buying $20
of cocaine from Sweat-Melancon every two to three weeks, according to
the affidavits.

The girl told Frost she bought cocaine twice from the teacher at
school, and that one time, Sweat-Melancon brought it to her home.

Police have said they intend to file a juvenile petition against the
15-year-old girl for possession of cocaine. The News & Record is
withholding the girl's name because she is a juvenile.

Students on Monday told Todd Wirt, assistant principal at Graham High
School, about a student who was using cocaine supplied by
Sweat-Melancon, according to affidavits. Wirt questioned two students
on Tuesday, and they told him the 15-year-old girl brought cocaine to
school every day and that she had gotten it from Sweat-Melancon.

When Wirt questioned the girl, she removed from her book bag a pair of
gloves with plastic baggies inside containing a white powder, which
later tested positive for cocaine, the affidavits said. Wirt searched
Sweat-Melancon's office and found a glove in her jacket that contained
a plastic bag with white powder later determined to be cocaine.

"Most of the people who are dealers aren't really trying to become the
Scarfaces of the world,"

Graham police Chief Milford Miller said. "A lot of them are trying to
finance their own addiction."

Sweat-Melancon had her first court appearance Thursday morning. A
court-appointed lawyer, Daniel Monroe, was assigned to her after she
filed a statement indicating she had more expenses than income. Her
bond was reduced to $50,000, and she was out on bail shortly after
lunch. Her husband was still in jail late Thursday afternoon.

Sweat-Melancon has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of an
investigation. If convicted of the charges she faces, she could lose
her North Carolina teaching license, said Farrell Hanzaker, assistant
superintendent for finance and personnel.