A former Richland High School cheerleading coach has been sentenced to five years' probation for having sex with a male student whom she said she had befriended to help him curtail his marijuana use.
Tiffanie Kay Bedinger, 45, of Watauga pleaded guilty last week to improper relations with a student, who was 17 at the time of the crime. Bedinger had faced a maximum of 20 years in prison for the felony charge.Bedinger and her attorney, Abe Factor of Fort Worth, could not be reached for comment Tuesday."We consulted with the victim's family and took into consideration all of the available evidence and the facts and circumstances of the case in coming to this decision," Melody McDonald, a spokeswoman with the Tarrant County district attorney's office, said Tuesday. "We felt this was an appropriate resolution to the case."The student, who graduated from Richland last year, was Bedinger's student in his junior and senior years, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.Bedinger taught business education at the school from August 2006 until her resignation April 2011, according to Birdville school district records.The teen told authorities that he met Bedinger during his sophomore year, the affidavit said. Their relationship started to grow in his junior and senior years when he was in her classes, and he told police and a Child Protective Services caseworker that "she was kinda like my mom."She started sending him text messages in February 2011 after he broke up with his girlfriend, according to the affidavit. The relationship between Bedinger and the student progressed to girlfriend and boyfriend, the affidavit stated.Bedinger was aware, however, that the relationship was wrong because she always advised him to delete messages from her. He told authorities that "it was pretty much understood that I was supposed to be trying to protect her and she was supposed to be protecting me I guess."Initially, the student saved Bedinger's telephone number but later changed it to symbols so no one would know who she was, according to the affidavit.The two had unprotected sex several times at her home for about three months, the affidavit stated.The student told authorities that he told his father he was at various friends' homes on the nights he was with Bedinger. On March 5, 2011, the student went with Bedinger on an overnight fishing trip, according to the affidavit.The student was confronted by his father about having a relationship with Bedinger on March 6, 2011, but the teen denied it, the father told authorities.But in April 2011, the teen admitted the relationship to his father after getting into some trouble. He then told Bedinger that he had told his father about the relationship, according to the affidavit.Bedinger later admitted to the principal that she had had a relationship with the teen, and she was asked for her resignation.Domingo Ramirez Jr.,817-390-7763Twitter: @mingoramirezjrHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
