Female teacher will never be allowed to set foot in American classroom again after she was caught sexting 14-year-old student
A female Kentucky teacher will never be allowed to set foot in an American classroom again after she was caught sexting a 14-year-old student, according to a report.
Rachel Clement, 29, pleaded guilty to three charges related to the allegations after she was accused of sending the explicit messages to the male teenager in May, according to The Hendersonian.
As part of her plea deal, the former Henderson County High School teacher will never be allowed to teach in the US, and she must be added to the national sex offender registry list, the outlet stated. Clement cannot have any contact with the victim as well.
She initially pleaded not guilty to all charges in June and was set to stand trial on Friday.
Prosecutors have since amended the initial charges of two counts of unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor to engage in sexual actions or other prohibited actions to two counts of first-degree sexual abuse with a position of authority or special trust and one count of tampering with physical evidence, according to the report.
The initial charges were Class C felonies, and the amended ones are Class D, according to attorney Herb McKee, Jr with Henderson County Commonwealth.
Her deal also saw Clement’s initial first-degree sexual abuse charge dropped, per the report.
School administrators launched an investigation into Clement last school year before notifying law enforcement, McKee said.
Rachel Clement, 29, pleaded guilty to three charges related to the allegations after she was accused of sending the explicit messages to a 14-year-old male student
She was immediately removed from Henderson County High School and has been banned from the school district’s properties
She was immediately removed from the school and has been banned from the school district’s properties. Her contract expired the month after her alleged crime was uncovered.
She could spend three years in jail for each sexual abuse charge and another five for evidence tampering
Before announcing the conditions of her plea deal, McKee said that he discussed the agreed recommendations with the victim and his family, the local outlet said.
He also spoke with Henderson Police Department detectives and Henderson County School officials.
‘We believe the evidence fits those charges,’ McKee said, according to the report.
He has recommended that Clement spend three years in jail for each sexual abuse charge and another five for evidence tampering, and that they run concurrently.
Henderson Circuit Judge Karen Wilson accepted her plea deal and will have the final say on her sentencing.
Although Clement was banned from the school and its website, she remains on Henderson County High School’s Facebook page.
In August 2022, she was among a group of new educators who were welcomed to the school, a post showed.
The disgraced teacher (second from right) will be sentenced on January 4 at 10am, according to online court records
‘HCHS would like to welcome all of our new staffulty! We are so excited you chose to be a Colonel,’ the school wrote.
Clement was celebrated again in July 2024 as a ‘new-to-position’ employee after she joined the school’s science department.
Before that, she was a Moderate and Severe Disabilities (MSD) aide, according to the social media page.
The disgraced teacher will be sentenced on January 4 at 10am, according to online court records.
Public court information did not name an attorney for Clement.
