Teen Claims He Suffered Sexual Abuse by Teacher

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18-year old Grant Strickland is speaking out about the years of sexual abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a teacher.

Strickland was an aspiring 14-year-old actor when he met the kindergarten teacher.

In 2021, he auditioned for a community theater production of “Legally Blonde: The Musical.”

Strickland was cast as the leading man.

The teacher, Nicole Callaham, was the director.

Detectives say Callaham started “grooming” the ninth grader and had “an inappropriate and unlawful relationship” with him.

Now he’s speaking out about what he says was years of abuse:

While I know some of you in the comments will say “where were these teachers when I was in 9th grade”, perhaps you might want to take a different view.

Strickland says the years of abuse nearly drove him to suicide:

NEW: Boy who says a teacher rped him from age 14 speaks out on how the abuse almost drove him to su*cide

Grant Strickland claims he was abused by 33-year-old Nicole Ballew Callaham from 2021 to 2023 in Anderson, South Carolina

Strickland was 14 when the alleged abuse began

His mother says they met at a Legally Blonde audition which Callaham was directing

Callaham, a married mother, is facing 3 counts of criminal s*xual conduct with a minor and 1 count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor

She turned herself in to the Anderson County Detention Center and was given a $40,000 bond

She is also facing a number of charges in nearby Greenville County, if the bond is met she will be transported there for a separate bond hearing

The GPD brought similar charges against her, alleging the conduct extended into their jurisdiction as Strickland attended school there

Meanwhile, the accused teacher’s attorney in Court argues she’s a good person and lots of family members like her:

Local WDBJ has more details:

Nicole Ballew Callaham, 33, is facing charges from multiple agencies.

Deputies said while working as a teacher, Callaham began grooming the boy in his early teen years, though he did not attend the school where she worked.

The misconduct began in 2021 when the boy was 14 years old and continued for at least two years, investigators said.

“The relationship intensified as she reportedly signed the student out of school, transported him to practices, and served as a supervisor for after-school activities,” the sheriff’s office said in a release. “These repeated interactions led to a prolonged pattern of abuse, which was corroborated by search warrants and ongoing cooperation with the victim’s family.”

Callaham surrendered herself to the Anderson County Detention Center on Thursday morning.

The alleged victim in this case, Grant Strickland, spoke in court at Callaham’s bond hearing. Gray Media does not identify victims of sexual abuse unless they choose to come forward.

Strickland said he wants to speak out to help others.

“All I really want the public to know is that that was a traumatic event. I’m here to fight and I’m not going to back down,” Strickland said. “I think more awareness needs to be brought to things like this. And just because I’m a man doesn’t mean that it should be shunned away. Because I was a child.”

Strickland decided to come forward as an 18-year-old after time spent processing the trauma he said he experienced.

“I would love to bring more awareness to show that this happens, and it happens a lot, and it’s not just to women, it’s to men, too, and it happens to young children, and it’s gotta stop,” Strickland said.

He added, “I would never want somebody to go through what I went through, because I don’t really think that most people would be showing up to survive it. I almost didn’t.”

Huge kudos to this kid, stay strong Grant!



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