A married high school teacher was jailed after sexually abusing a student up to 30 times

A married high school teacher has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for multiple counts of sexual conduct toward a student.

Heather Hare, 33, was convicted of unlawful sexual activity with a student last week following her arrest.

Hare, who previously worked as a family and consumer sciences teacher at Bryant High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, engaged in sexual activity with a high school student 20 to 30 times during the 2021-2022 school year.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arkansas confirmed she had been convicted in a May 15 news release.

She was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of illegal sexual activity.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arkansas confirmed in a news release that Heather Hare was convicted. (Bryant Police Department)

Hare met the victim on the first day of her senior year and eventually began personal counseling with the student.

She eventually gave them her personal number and began communicating via Instagram and Snapchat. She had also told the underage victim that she had “fantasized about sex and had given the victim her home address in Conway.”

Between April 21 and 24, 2022, Hare chaperoned a field trip to Washington, DC as part of an extracurricular activity related to the Family Consumer Science courses. On that trip, Hare admitted that she and the victim engaged in unlawful sexual activity, to which she pleaded guilty.

The press release also listed all the charges Hare faced.

“Hare was indicted on August 1, 2023 and is charged with one count of interstate/foreign travel for the purpose of prostitution/sexual activity by coercion and one count of transportation of a minor with the intent to commit criminal sexual activity,” the release said .

“In exchange for her guilty plea, the remaining charges were dropped.”

Hare was sentenced to serve the next 13 years in a federal prison. (FCCLA)

U.S. District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky, who sentenced Hare, also said she must serve a lifetime of supervised release.

Commenting on the judge’s overall decision, U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross said it should serve as a warning to any other teachers who engage in illegal activities with students.

“Teachers who have sex with their underage students should take note of today’s verdict against Ms. Hare, which reflects the consequences of abusing her position of trust and exploiting the vulnerability of these minors to repeatedly engage in unlawful sexual activity,” he said.

“Our office will continue to hold accountable those in positions of trust who act against children and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law, as evidenced by Judge Rudofsky, who sentenced Ms. Hare to 13 years in federal prison.”

If you are affected by any of these issues and would like to speak confidentially with someone about a child’s welfare, contact the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422- 4453) is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

Topics: Education, School, US News, Crime