A teacher cried after learning she would not go to jail for having sex with a teenage student.
McKenna Kindred, 25, apologized to her victim and expressed deep shame after admitting on Thursday to sexual misconduct with a minor and communication with a minor for immoral purposes.
The former Washington high school teacher was sentenced to two years’ probation, along with $700 (£550) in fines and a requirement to register as a sex offender for the next ten years.
Her relationship with the student reportedly started in June 2022 when the victim discovered her Instagram account.
In November of that year, while Kindred’s husband was away on a hunting trip, the student visited the teacher’s house where they then had intercourse.
Speaking in court on Thursday, Kindred said: ‘I am truly sorry for my actions. I know that this past year has been enormously stressful for all involved.
‘As a result of my actions I’ve lost my career, valuable friendships, freedoms and have let down countless people who placed their trust in me.
‘My mental health has also been severely affected by this event. I am deeply ashamed of the pain I have caused.’
The victim’s mother criticized the teacher’s ‘predatory actions’ as an ‘abuse of power’, and said that since the incident ‘a light [the child] used to carry has been dimmed.’
Last year, Central Valley School District announced Kindred had resigned from her position at the school in Spokane Valley.
It followed after the victim’s classmates informed school officials he and the teacher had been communicating inappropriately via social media.
The pair initially denied having a sexual relationship. Messages recovered from their devices did not appear to contain any ‘overtly sexual’ photographs, though some apparently contained references to masturbation.
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