BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio - A former high-school French teacher and bowling coach who admitted tohaving sex with one of her students will spend 60 days in the Logan County jail.
Cheryl Clark, 44, of Huntsville, had been found guilty last month on one count of sexualbattery, a third-degree felony.
In addition to the jail sentence yesterday, Logan County Common Pleas Judge Mark S. O'Connorfined Clark $500 and ordered her to have no contact with the victim. In addition to five years ofcourt supervision, Clark will, as a sex offender, have lifetime registration requirements with thecounty sheriff.
Clark pursued a relationship late last year with a male student at Indian Lake High School,where she had taught for 15 years.
The two regularly exchanged sexually explicit text messages, including 80 in one day, said EricStewart, Logan County's chief assistant prosecutor.
Clark and the teenager had sex in her home at least twice, the first time on Feb.10, 16 daysafter the student turned 18, Stewart said.
Still, under Ohio law, it is a felony because Clark held a position of trust.
Clark told probation officers who were conducting a pre-sentence investigation that she thoughtthe relationship was permissible because the student had turned 18, Stewart said.
O'Connor could have sentenced Clark to as long as five years in prison, and the prosecutorwanted prison time.
"She has tried to minimize what she's done," Stewart said. "Teachers can't have inappropriaterelationships with students."
Clark looked directly at the teen's mother and stepfather as she apologized in court: "I wouldlike you to rest assured that I will pay for this the rest of my life."
The teen's stepfather was unmoved.
"I will never understand this sick way of thinking, nor will I understand a teacher who preys onstudents," said the man, whom The Dispatch is not identifying to protect the identity of the teen because he was avictim of sexual assault. "Mrs. Clark took advantage of the trust of the victim."
And no one will know until years from now, the stepfather said, how deeply the teen has beenaffected.
hzachariah@dispatch.com
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