Seminole County Teacher Mackenzie McLean Arrested on Sex, Drug Charges Involving Students

Deputies can be heard on body-worn camera tape as Mackenzie McLean, 49, begged them to stop before being taken into custody at her Lake Mary home on an arrest warrant tied to allegations she sexually abused students and distributed controlled substances. The arrest affidavit charges McLean with two counts related to sexual conduct by an authority figure and one count of distribution of a controlled substance; she was booked into the Seminole County Jail.

Online court records show McLean has pleaded not guilty, but published accounts conflict on whether a judge ordered no bond or whether she was held on a $35,000 bond. An arraignment is scheduled for March 31, according to court scheduling information made public as the case proceeds.

The arrest affidavit describes a former male student, now 19, who said he had lived with McLean after family problems and that the inappropriate relationship began while he was her student in 2024. The affidavit says the teen alleged McLean gave him about twelve shots of gin until he became severely intoxicated, and that he pushed her off and told her it was wrong. The teen told deputies he feared reporting the conduct because he relied on McLean for housing.

Investigators say a second former student reported similar conduct that began when McLean invited students to her home. That student told deputies she was 16 when McLean offered alcohol and weed gummies. Authorities allege multiple students were offered alcohol, marijuana or weed, vape products, and Adderall at McLean’s house, and that some students “would occasionally pass out at McLean’s house because of how much they were drinking and smoking.”

The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office released body camera video that shows deputies at McLean’s Lake Mary driveway on February 17, when they executed the arrest warrant. In the footage McLean can be heard saying, “No, no. Wait, wait, wait! Stop, stop, stop, stop! Please!” and later, “I didn’t do anything!” A deputy is recorded calmly telling her, “Just talk to us.”

The arrest report also includes messages attributed to McLean in which she appears to acknowledge a pattern of repeated conduct: “I intentionally never initiated anything because I didn’t want to make him feel any kind of way,” and “I told myself each time that it wouldn’t happen again and I would say no. But then I let it happen again,” according to the affidavit.

Seminole County Public Schools confirmed McLean was placed on administrative leave following notification of her arrest. McLean has taught world history, U.S. government, and economics at Crooms Academy of Information Technology in Sanford and had been employed with the district since August 2001.

As the case moves toward the March 31 arraignment, authorities and court records will determine whether additional charges or victim counts are filed; for now the allegations remain those detailed in the arrest affidavit and the booking records showing the two sexual counts and one distribution count.