Because she recently gave birth, a Texas teacher who was found guilty of having sex with a 13-year-old kid in her classroom during three years of abuse does not have to report to jail until next year.
Marka Bodine, 31, was given a sentence on Tuesday that included 60 days in jail and ten years of probation. But because she recently gave birth, she won’t have to go to jail in Harris County, east Texas, until June 2023.
According to the now-16-year-old kid, Bodine became his friend via playing Fortnite, according to abc13. Later, his English instructor started messaging him, and between April 2020 and February 2021, she sent the boy 25 to 40 graphic photos of herself.
Bodine drove to her student’s house two to four times a month until March 2021, when it finally came to an end after he called the police “begging for help.” The abusive sexual relationship lasted for more than two years.
Bodine’s long-term connection with the student did not result in the birth of the child.
The Tomball Intermediate School teacher will be listed as a sexual offender for the rest of her life.
The maximum sentence for Bodine’s charge of ongoing sexual assault of a minor under 14 is life in prison.
Attorneys had demanded a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.
According to Christopher Downey, a criminal defense lawyer, proof of Bodine’s mental state at the time of the assault may have contributed to her short sentence.
While acknowledging that social issues were probably a factor in Bodine’s sentence, Downey added, “I think no little part of an explanation for this punishment may rest in any psych info they supplied to the court.”
‘By all accounts, this is an unusual outcome. I am sure that the gender of the person on trial, the fact that this was a woman accused of having sex with a young boy, that’s gonna factor into it as well,’ Downey said.
Midway through the sentence hearing, the mistreated youngster fled the courtroom because he was “extremely angry with the verdict,” according to his lawyer Janna Oswald.
I’m heartbroken for the complainant and his family, Ms. Oswald continued.
She told NBC Houston, “I’m really unhappy with the outcome as a prosecutor, as a child abuse prosecutor, and as a citizen of Harris County.”
Bodine’s defense attorney said: ‘No case is like another and not every case deserves prison.
‘We believe the Judge followed the law and handed down an appropriate punishment’, attorney Dustan Neyland wrote in a statement to KPRC 2.
The investigation into Bodine was launched in April after the ex-student came forward with allegations of continued and ongoing sexual misconduct.
‘It was definitely a cry out for help,’ Tomball Police Chief Jeff Bert said.
‘He had reached out to a school, and he reached out to the police department as well, so I think he just became overwhelmed with it and reached out to us.’
According to the boy’s declaration, Bodine moved into the boy’s complex after her divorce, and the two had several encounters with each other in both her classroom and her car.
It’s incredibly challenging for us to understand why someone would do such a thing, but evil does exist in the world, said Tomball parent Jennifer Kratky, whose daughter was being tutored in English by Bodine at the time of her arrest.
Even more disturbing is the fact that she received such an absurdly short sentence.
According to court records, Bodine allegedly called the police when her former sixth-grade pupil harassed her and threatened to hurt himself.
Bodine then acknowledged that he and that youngster had a three-year sexual relationship that started in 2018 when he was just 13 years old. During that time, Bodine sent him dozens of obscene films and pictures.
According to Chief Bert, the inquiry has turned up text conversations and social media posts indicating that Bodine had been preparing the victim for sex.
In a statement to ABC13, the Tomball Independent School District emphasized that the case involved a previous student “who does not now attend Tomball ISD schools.”
District officials claim that after becoming aware of the accusations against Bodine, they immediately put her on administrative leave, and she has since resigned.
Bodine had over six years of experience teaching English at Tomball ISD, according to her LinkedIn profile.