Judge regrets probation for former teacher who again has sex with girl

Judge regrets probation for former teacher who again has sex with girl

MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A judge now says he wishes he hadn’t given a former Mansfield teacher a chance to stay out of prison for having sex with a then-13-year-old girl.

In September, Judge James Henson of Richland County Common Pleas Court gave 36-year-old Dustin Powers five years’ probation for sexual battery.

On Wednesday, Powers was back before the judge — pleading guilty to violating probation, because police say he had sex again in December with the girl, now 15. They met while he taught gym at a middle school.

Powers said he didn’t mean to make a mockery of the court and pleaded for mercy. Judge Henson sent him to prison for four years on the original conviction.

The judge says the probation decision was the right one at the time — but Powers was the wrong person.