• By Abhirupa Kundu
  • Wed, 24 Jan 2024 07:58 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Thirty-three-year-old Heather Hare, an Arkansas teacher has pleaded guilty of having sex* with a 17-year-old high school student for up to 30 times. A mom and a wife, Hare was arrested in April 2023 when the student came forward to report the repeated abuse. The once-loved teacher now faces life behind bars after she said she was culpable of transporting the minor across state lines for unlawful sexual activity, reported The New York Post.

Hare's sexual offences came to light in 2020 when during a television show, her students bid her goodbye after her online class was discontinued during the pandemic.

The victim told the police that he met Hare on the first day of his senior year at Bryant High School in the fall of 2021.

"Hare began one-on-one counseling sessions with the minor victim, eventually giving him her personal phone number and primarily communicating with him through Instagram and Snapchat," the prosecutor’s office said during the hearing.

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"At one point, Hare told the student that she had a dream of them having sex*," Assistant US Attorney John Ray White told the court.

"The minor victim and Hare had sex* approximately 20 to 30 times throughout the 2021-2022 school term, including multiple times at her Conway residence, in her vehicle, and in her classroom and parking lots at Bryant High School," he added.

The teacher engaged in sexual intercourse with the minor during an April 2022 school trip to Washington, DC, when Hare took the boy and three female students for a national LifeSmarts competition tied to her Family Consumer Sciences course.

"He advised they planned to have sex* on the trip and not have to worry about being caught," White said.

During the hearing, Hare broke down responding with a soft "yes, sir" when asked if everything that the prosecutor narrated was accurate.

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