Former Kansas art teacher accused of having sex with student in Jeep to stand trial

A former Kansas high school art teacher accused of having sex with a student, including multiple times in the back seat of her Jeep, will stand trial. 

Nicole Hernandez, 30, also known as Nikki Baird, appeared in court Tuesday, when a judge ruled she will be tried on four counts of unlawful sexual relations with a student, KAKE.com reported. 

Baird allegedly groomed the then-17-year-old student in middle school before both moved on to Wichita North High School, according to an affidavit seen by the Wichita Eagle.

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"He described how she befriended him, then isolated him from others," the affidavit reportedly states. 

The relationship between the pair turned sexual in 2024, it said. Baird was arrested in May following an investigation after a Wichita police detective was made aware of an Instagram post indicating that Baird had an inappropriate relationship with a former Wichita school district student.

The student, now an adult, told investigators that Baird was his middle school art teacher before she was hired as North High's art teacher. The affidavit said she groomed him throughout his sophomore, junior and senior years of high school.

The former student said the physical relationship "started as Baird touching or rubbing his back or shoulders" before she began asking him for hugs, authorities said. 

"He was nervous and eventually said yes," the affidavit states.

The pair eventually began exchanging text messages in which Baird talked about her "struggling marriage," the affidavit said. 

She then began writing him notes. 

"One letter said, 'I hope and pray one day I get the chance to be with you' and 'I know that I love you,'" the affidavit read.

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She allegedly invited him into her office three times during his last week of school, while ordering him to touch her, the affidavit states.

On his graduation night, Baird allegedly asked the student if he wanted to meet in a random neighborhood and have sex in her Jeep, according to documents.

"The student said he was nervous and felt pressured," the affidavit reads. "She (Baird) said things similar to 'It's okay' and said they won't get in trouble because he graduated."

Afterward, while North High classes were still in session but seniors were no longer in class, Baird met up with the student multiple times to have sex in the back seat of her Jeep, according to the affidavit.

After the teen graduated, Baird allegedly texted him nude photos of herself. The teen saved some of the images, "knowing he could use them as evidence of what she did," the affidavit states.

He eventually stopped communicating with Baird after he "understood the relationship he had with Baird was inappropriate and he had been manipulated by Baird," according to the affidavit.

The student eventually told his family about Baird, and they submitted the nude images and handwritten notes to investigators.