Teacher gets 4.5 years in prison

CELINA - A former kindergarten teacher was sentenced on Tuesday to 54 months in prison for three third-degree felony charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and one unclassified misdemeanor charge of failure to comply with underage alcohol laws.

Heather Henry, 48, was found guilty after pleading no contest to the charges, which stemmed from her sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy.

She was sentenced to 18 months in prison for each felony charge, to be served consecutively. She also was sentenced to a concurrent 180 days in the Mercer County jail and a $500 fine for the misdemeanor charge. The days she spends in jail will be credited toward her felony prison sentence. Henry also will be registered as a Tier II sex offender for 25 years.

Emotions ran high in the courtroom as the defense and prosecution made their last-ditch efforts to affect sentencing, with both Henry's and the victim's families speaking out.

Defense attorney Reed Searcy said his client was deeply remorseful and realized she had failed to set boundaries with the victim but said she had not intended to cause harm.

Due to her having no criminal record prior to these events and due to her voluntarily surrendering her teaching license and undergoing psychological treatment, Searcy argued she would be unlikely to commit other crimes going forward. He asked for a lesser sentence, saying the case had already had a dramatic effect by destroying her reputation and career and having a financial impact on her family.

Henry's husband, Chris, spoke, with the couple's crying children standing behind the defense table with him. He said the family had been forever changed but had learned their lessons and would not open their home to others or be so quick to trust. This comment stirred murmurs among the victim's family and friends. Henry also apologized and admitted she'd failed to set boundaries. She said her problem had been that she'd cared too much.

"I will accept the consequences for my vulnerability," she said. "I trust God is with me."

The victim's parents, who asked not to be publicly named, said the last seven months had been devastating for their family. The victim's father said Henry's "sinful and atrocious" actions had changed his son's life forever but that she continued trying to shift blame for the events onto his son.

He continued, saying when he and his wife had confronted Henry, she had given them different excuses for her behavior: She didn't want to break their son's heart by saying no, it had happened because she felt lonely with her husband working third shift, she felt younger than 48 and their son felt older than 15 and he and his wife didn't understand.

The father said his son had experienced depression and his schoolwork had suffered. He often had to be picked up early from school because of bullying.

He said he'd taken extra time off work to be with his son at home because he was afraid his son would harm himself and had already expressed to his parents that he didn't want to live. The father told Judge Jeffrey Ingraham that he wanted Henry to be incarcerated because she'd broken the law and left devastation in her wake.

The victim's mother said the family had felt unsafe in their home due to the case. They'd received lewd phone calls, had installed cameras outside their home and had disparaging things said about them on social media, she said.

Finally, the victim spoke out on the strong mix of emotions he'd been experiencing and of the pain and anger he had felt when Henry refused responsibility for her actions.

Mercer County Prosecutor Matthew Fox said this was not a victimless crime just because Henry was a woman and the victim was a male, and anyone who said differently or harassed the family regarding their case was "shallow and misogynistic."