Yale Divinity School student booked into Hillsborough County Jail on sexual battery charges

TAMPA - A 23-year-old Yale Divinity School student from Haines City was booked into the Hillsborough County Jail Tuesday after he was extradited from Connecticut on sexual battery charges.

University of South Florida police say Herron Gaston abused his authority by having a sexual relationship with a minor.

Gaston worked with a federally-funded college preparation program at USF, called Upward Bound, from June 18 to August 1 of this year. He is accused of befriending and having sex with a participant during the program's six-week summer session, where students live on USF's campus.

Though it's unknown how the program learned of the alleged sexual relationship between Gaston and a 17-year-old male participant, Upward Bound reported the incident to police on October 29.

Gaston is a Haines City High School graduate and earned his undergraduate and master's degree from Florida A&M University, according to a former fellow graduate student at FAMU.

He was also one of 14 students selected for the 2009 Florida Gubernatorial Fellowship program, during which participants work for 20 hours a week in the governor's office or other state agencies.

Gaston now faces four counts of Sexual Battery by a Person in a Position of Custodial Authority on a Person Under the Age of Eighteen.

Police in Connecticut arrested him on November 4. He's currently being held without bond at the Hillsborough County Jail.