Charges are pending against two Centennial High School teachers on suspicion of sexually related incidents with a student on the varsity football team.
Angie Burlaka, Child Oriented Occupational Program and child development teacher, was detained July 31 on suspicion of aggravated luring a minor for sexual exploitation, and Haley Beck, world history, sociology and psychology teacher and soccer coach, was detained Aug. 2 on suspicion of pandering. Both are felonies.
The information was contained in two files released by the Peoria Police Department to Peoria Independent last week.
Burlaka and Beck, who were both interviewed and investigated by police, are not in custody, and police say they are awaiting official charges from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Peoria Police said neither woman was arrested in the case, and any potential arrest would be up to MCAO.
The teachers were put on administrative leave a few months ago when Peoria Police and Peoria Unified each launched investigations into the teachers and the allegations.
PUSD officials say their district investigations are ongoing and could not comment until they conclude. The teachers are still employed by the district and retain their teaching certificates.
Peoria Independent reached out to both teachers via work emails and, in Beck’s case, through social media messaging, but they have yet to respond.
Separate but intertwined
Peoria Police reports focus on how investigators believe Beck and Burlaka became intimate with a former student, a player on Centennial’s football team, during the past two years. Based on initial information, police say it was not clear if the two teachers were co-conspirators or were acting independently. Investigators now say it appears the latter is the case.
“As this investigation continued, both investigations shared a significant amount of information and it became difficult to separate,” the reports state.
The student at the center of both cases admitted to his mother he had a sexual relationship with Beck, according to the report, and also chose not to be interviewed by police because he said he feared getting into trouble, as well as others getting into trouble. His mother also had concerns of the investigation hurting his chances for a college athletic scholarship.
Police reports say investigators believe Beck had a sexual relationship with the student based on numerous text messages in her cell phone that explicitly talk about sexual acts as well as several other text messages with explicit language.
Many incidents involving Beck and the student occurred after the student had turned 18, the report states. While those acts would not be criminal, they likely would violate Peoria Unified teacher conduct policy.
Financial aspect
In recommending charges to MCAO, investigators contend Beck had sexual relations based off financial ties, according to the police report of the investigation. Over a month-and-a-half, Beck sent the student $630 through more than two dozen electronic transactions, with Beck saying in one text message that “this money exchange just felt like straight prostitution,” and “If I cut you off from the money benefit from all this I really fear you would never speak to me.”
Beck admitted to doing the student’s homework, as well as buying him food, hotel rooms and use of an apartment, among other things, according to the report.
“Given (the student’s) pursuit of athletic scholarships, having a teacher completing homework is reasonable believed to be a valuable consideration,” the report states. “Given Haley fears if she takes the financial component away from their relationship, (the student) would stop speaking to her.”
Therefore, police believe Beck committed pandering, by compelling, inducing and encouraging the student to engage in acts of prostitution under Arizona state law.
Explicit videos, photos
The relationship between the student and Burlaka featured two explicit videos, according to the investigative report. Some students alleged there were rumors of a video of Beck and the student, but the video never surfaced, according to the report.
After searching the student’s cell phone, police discovered two videos of Burlaka naked, one of her in the shower and the other in a sex act.
The police report states investigators believe based on the data contained in the videos that the student could have had one video before he was 18 and the other video after he was 18.
Police interviewed Burlaka, but she refused to answer questions regarding the videos.
“For both of the videos, I cannot determine how he obtained the videos. It is unclear if Angela sent the videos or not,” according to the police report.
The report states that when police provided a warrant to search Burlaka’s classroom, July 31, before becoming aware of Beck’s name, Centennial Principal Scott Hollabaugh provided her name to detectives. Hollabaugh told them he had received multiple complaints from students and staff regarding the relationship between Beck and a student.
Other allegations
The investigation was compiled into two reports both with significant overlapping information and both with more than 175 pages. Detectives over the course of about four months interviewed more than 30 students, some of whom alleged Beck often welcomed football players into her classroom, while shutting out girls. Allegations of photos and videos between the student and the two teachers had become known to a certain circles of students.
Students interviewed also alleged there are other students who are potential victims, but due to some refusing to cooperate, detectives were unable to confirm other victims, according to the report.
“There has been repeated information there are other students who are potential victims in this case,” according to the police report.
Senior News Editor Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on X @philiphaldiman. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Philip Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.
Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater.
Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.
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