Newly obtained investigative records in the case of a teacher accused of abusing two of her adopted teenage sons reveal unsettling details, including bedroom selfies and internet searches that police described as concerning.
Amber Swain, 35, was charged with incest earlier this year after her husband contacted police with suspicions about alleged sexual encounters involving the 17- and 18-year-old boys.
Swain, a mother of six, has pleaded not guilty. Her trial is scheduled to begin in October.
While the case moves toward court, Our News Outlet has reviewed police files obtained through a public records request. The documents allege Swain posed for topless selfies and was photographed in bed with her 17-year-old adopted son. Some of the most explicit images are not being published.
According to the records, a forensic review of Swain’s phone after her arrest also allegedly found images of her sitting on the younger teenager’s lap while he kissed her cheek.
During police interviews, the 17-year-old told officers that his adoptive mother had exchanged nude images with him, the records show.
Screenshots of text messages obtained by investigators appear to provide further detail about Swain’s alleged relationship with the boy, including conversations in which they discussed sleeping in the same bed.
In March, the teen asked Swain whether he could spend the night and sleep in her bed, according to the screenshots.
Amber Swain, 35, was charged with incest after her husband reported his suspicions to cops about the alleged trysts with her 17 and 18-year-old boys. She has pled not guilty
Swain, a mother-of-six and former teacher, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is due to stand trial in October
When the boy pushed back asking ‘why not all night’, Swain replied: ‘Because of what happened last time you slept with me.’
The boy then wrote back insisting ‘nothing happened’ and ‘just one more chance.’
‘I wanna cuddle,’ he later added, according to copies of their messages.
Swain allegedly then responded: ‘I wondered. I can’t though [name]. I’m your mom. I don’t feel that towards you.’
After the boy begged ‘just once’, Swain allegedly replied: ‘No [name]. I love you so much. Nothing like that is ever going to happen.’
In yet another disturbing twist, Swain’s online search history allegedly showed she had secretly searched ‘forbidden love psychology’ and ‘missing someone intensely’ just four months into the relationship with her adopted son, according to a police report included in the files.
When Swain was ultimately arrested over the alleged abuse, police noted in the report that she confessed to an officer that ‘some of this is true, but a lot of it isn’t.’
During her interview, she sat in silence for 25 seconds when confronted about the alleged relationship, according to the police report.
Screenshots of Swain’s text messages paint a fuller picture of her alleged relationship with one of the boys, including ones where they spoke of sleeping in the same bed
‘I don’t know how to talk about that,’ she said, according to the police report, before eventually admitting to ‘fighting the attraction.’
A note found on her phone, which was written in March 2026, read: ‘[Victim] being inappropriate with me.’
The documents also show Swain had used ChatGPT on her phone to talk through her feelings – including some conversations in which she described someone being ‘inappropriate with her’ and then blocking her – an apparent echo of the note police found on the same device.
According to the boy’s account to investigators, which was included in the files, both he and Swain verbally confirmed they wanted to proceed before their first sexual encounter unfolded.
He told police Swain took her own clothes off.
The boy also described the relationship to investigators as ‘fine, good’ and said it ‘doesn’t feel wrong.’
Meanwhile, Swain told detectives during her interview that she had attempted to report that a second adopted son had sexually assaulted her – an allegation investigators said they could not corroborate, the police report shows.
She later conceded, according to the report, that she had not given police ‘the full truth’ about the incident involving the second boy.
Various snaps found on her phone included some of Swain appearing to sit on the boy’s lap, as well as one where he kissed her cheek
‘I didn’t tell anybody,’ she said, ‘because I don’t trust systems.’
At one point during the interview, Swain asked investigators how public the case would become. When a detective told her that telling the truth would help her, she asked: ‘Is that just a line or is it real?’
Swain’s arrest came after her estranged husband, Daniel, reported her to Washington’s Department of Children Youth and Families on May 18.
Daniel, who was already separated from Swain, also handed police the text messages that helped build the case against her.
Swain worked as a teacher and was previously executive director of Spokane Angels, a nonprofit supporting children in the foster care system.
She adopted one of the boys after first meeting him as a struggling third-grader in her classroom in 2017.
‘Throughout the year, I just grew to love him,’ she said in a Facebook video posted before her arrest, encouraging others to consider fostering and adoption. ‘I saw his resilience, his potential and just grew to love him. He really inspired my husband and I to start fostering.’
She and Daniel went on to care for the boy and his brother before they began fostering a third boy. The pair, who adopted all three in November 2019, also have three biological children together.
Amber Swain, 35, was arrested in June after her estranged husband Daniel (left) filed a report with Washington’s Department of Children Youth and Families flagging his suspicions
During subsequent interviews, one of the adopted boys told investigators he had been having sex with Swain since December last year when he was 17 and that it had happened ‘many times,’ according to the police report.
The most recent encounter, he said, was just two days before the interview.
When detectives confronted Swain with the December start date, the police report notes that she said: ‘I might have my timeline mixed up, but I don’t know what to tell you.’
A second adopted son told investigators he had grown suspicious after finding Swain’s underwear on his brother’s bedroom floor and discovering the two of them locked in Swain’s bedroom, per the report.
He said he had fallen asleep in Swain’s bed after drinking and woke to find her climbing in beside him.
Despite noting that they had always cuddled since he was young, the boy alleged that night was different.
‘Things got handsy, that’s all I’m going to say,’ he told investigators.
‘It’s just something that I thought I’d never do, with my mother obviously,’ he told investigators. ‘Yeah, it’s gross to think about.’
She was arrested on June 2 after her husband alerted Washington’s Department of Children Youth and Families
Swain, who has three adopted children and three biological kids, was hit with a spate of charges, including incest and sexual misconduct with a minor. She has pled not guilty
In the wake of her arrest, Swain was placed on administrative leave from Pend Oreille River School
He said he was ‘disgusted with himself more than anything else.’
When asked about his concerns for his brother, he said: ‘I mean if an affair is going on… holy s***. That’s weird. Obviously she shouldn’t be doing that at all since she’s known him since the third grade.’
Swain was later booked on charges including incest in the first degree, incest in the second degree, and sexual misconduct with a minor in the first degree.
All three are designated domestic violence offenses and, if convicted, she faces up to ten years in prison on the most serious count.
In the wake of her arrest, Swain was placed on administrative leave from Pend Oreille River School, the Newport School District’s alternative high school.
A lawyer for Swain did not respond to a request for comment from Our News Outlet.
Search warrants for her Google account were issued in July and the investigation is ongoing. She has pleaded not guilty and is due to face trial in October.
She has also filed for divorce.
