Former Arkansas teacher admits to having sex 20 to 30 times with student

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A former Arkansas high school teacher who was celebrated on Good Morning America four years ago faces  the prospect of spending years behind bars after admitting to having sex 20 to 30 times with an underage student.

The U.S. Department of Justice said this week that Heather Hare, 33, pleaded guilty to transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of unlawful sexual activity.

Hare, who retired in April 2023 after nearly a decade at Bryant High School in Bryant, Ark. — on the outskirts of the state’s capital, Little Rock — will be sentenced at a later date. She faces a sentence of at least 10 years in prison and a minimum of five years of supervised release.

“This former teacher took advantage of her position of trust and the vulnerability of a minor, using her role to entice and lure this minor into engaging in unlawful sexual activity,” U.S. attorney Jonathan D. Ross said in a statement. “Our office will continue to seek significant penalties against any educational professional who sexually abuses their students.”

Investigators say Hare was teaching family consumer science classes at the school in 2021 when she met the victim on the first day of his senior year.

After beginning counselling sessions with the boy, Hare eventually gave the victim her personal phone number and mainly kept in touch with him through Instagram and Snapchat, the prosecutor’s office said.

Hare later told the boy that she had dreams of having sex with him and gave the victim her home address in Conway, 45 kilometres north of Little Rock.

Detectives said the teacher and victim had sex approximately 20 to 30 times throughout the 2021-22 school year. She admitted to having sex with the boy at her home, in her vehicle, in her classroom and the school’s parking lot.

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In April 2022, Hare sponsored and chaperoned four students on a field trip to Washington, D.C. The victim was the only male student in the group, and she admitted to engaging in unlawful sexual activity with the boy.

Hare was arrested a year later after a boy reported her abuse to authorities, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

In May 2020, students at the school created a goodbye video for the married teacher that was featured on ABC’s Good Morning America.

According to the New York Post, Hare said she “immediately started bawling my eyes out” after seeing the clip.

ABC has since removed the video from its websites.