A former high school teacher who once appeared on Good Morning America being surprised by her students has been convicted of federal charges for having a sexual relationship with a teenage student.
Heather Hare, 33, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison along with 20 years to be served concurrently after she engaged in sexual activities with a minor 20 to 30 times, a Saline County Circuit Court determined.
Hare was sentenced on 15 May. Prosecutors had charged her with transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of unlawful sexual activity.
Federal prosecutors found that Hare taught Family Consumer Science classes at Bryant High School in Bryant, Arkansas, where she met the victim on the first day of their senior year. The woman later held one-on-one counseling sessions with the student and gave them her personal phone number, Instagram and Snapchat.
The teacher told the student that she had a dream of them having sex and gave them her home address in Conway. The relationship spanned the 2021 and 2022 school years, with sexual encounters taking place at the woman’s home, car, classroom, and school parking lots.
In one instance, the two engaged in sexual activity while on a field trip to Washington DC as part of an extracurricular activity relating to Hare’s classes. She pleaded guilty to sexual activity she had with the minor while on the trip in April 2022.
The teacher was indicted on 1 August 2023 on charges of one count of interstate/foreign travel for prostitution/sexual activity by coercion and one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Hare took a plea deal and one charge of second charge of interstate/foreign travel for prostitution/sexual activity by coercion was dropped.
Once the woman’s prison sentence is over, she will be under supervised release for the rest of her life.
“Teachers who have sex with their minor students should take note of today’s sentence for Ms Hare which reflects the consequences of abusing her position of trust and taking advantage of the vulnerability of this minor to repeatedly engage in unlawful sexual activity,” prosecutors said.
