Former middle school teacher facing sexual abuse charges that date back 15 years

A former sixth-grade teacher is finally facing charges for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl about 15 years ago. Benjamin Hodgdon, 45, is being charged with sexually assaulting a teenage student “30 to 40 times” in 1999 and 2000, reports the Bangor Daily News.

He appeared in court last month and did not enter a plea to a charge of gross sexual assault.

Hodgdon, who was 31 at the time of the alleged assaults, was the girl’s sixth-grade teacher and was also her cross-country coach. She was in eighth-grade during the time of the alleged incidents.

The alleged assaults stopped in fall of 2000, when the girl was 14 and entering high school.

In September of 2012, the then 26-year-old victim took a video recording of Hodgdon admitting to the sexual assault. In the video, police reportedly watched Hodgdon tell the girl, “I cared for you” and “please don’t do that” when she threatened to tell police about the assaults.

Hoggdon left his position at the school well before the charges were filed. He is due in court next month.

Kansas teacher pleads not guilty

A Kansas high school teacher pleaded not guilty last month to one count of unlawful sexual relations with a student.

Ashley Eck, 24, a teacher at Winfield high School, is being charged with unlawful sexual relations between a teacher or school employee and a student, according to the Winfield Courier.

School administrators urged police to investigate the case shortly before last year’s school graduation.

Eck has taught at the school for almost two years and has been placed on paid leave.

She is currently free on bond and is set to be back in court next week.

Under Kansas state law, sexual relations between a teacher and student at the same school are illegal, regardless of the age of the student, reports the Winfield Courier.

Oklahoma teacher under investigation

Authorities in Oklahoma have searched the Facebook account of a teacher after one student claimed she sent him sexually graphic pictures and another said he had sex with the woman.

Callie Miller, 25, an English teacher at Capitol Hill High School, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, reports Newsok.com.

Court documents show that a 17-year-old student allegedly began receiving Facebook messages from Miller last August. The conversations eventually led Miller to ask for the boy’s phone number and the two began exchanging text messages, according to authorities.

The boy alleged that the teacher asked him to meet her at a nearby park, where they had sex, according to Newsok.com.

Records also show that another 17-year-old boy admitted that he received graphic photos and Facebook messages from Miller as well.

Miller began working at the school district in January of 2013. Police say the investigation is ongoing.

Teacher allegedly abused student at school, home

An Iowa teacher was placed on administrative leave last month after police began investigating an allegation of misconduct involving a student, reports the Des Moines Register.

District officials and authorities refused to release the name of the suspect.

Police allege that the sexual abuse of a minor was perpetrated by a 33-year-old male over a nine-month period. Documents show that some of these alleged offenses took place at Knoxville High School and others at a home owned by the school’s head football coach and teacher, Troy Rider.

The birth date listed on the report for the sex abuse suspect also matches Rider’s, the Des Moines Register reports.

“We have already conducted an (internal) investigation, which led us to turn it over to the police,” Flack told the Des Moines register. “… As always, our primary concern is the safety of our students.”

Rider has served as a physical education teacher at the high school since 2011.

Source: eagnews