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« on: May 16, 2014, 07:32:53 PM »
HOLTON — A former Holton High School teacher convicted of having a sexual affair with a 15-year-old female student trembled as he apologized to the victim and her family, his family, his church, and the community shortly before being sentenced to 60 days in jail and 66 months of probation Tuesday.
As defendant Tad Hernandez spoke in Jackson County District Court, his teenage victim sat in the gallery of a courtroom filled with supporters for both sides and rubbed a silver coin with her fingers.
The coin had the word “Truth” printed on one side. There was an image of the scales of justice on the other side.
Addressing the court, Hernandez, in a barely audible voice, said “I want to thank my family and friends for their continued support.”
“His words meant nothing,” said Monica Briner, the mother of the girl. “There will never be a punishment that will take back what we lost. There is no restitution for what my family has endured. His criminal activity has permanently altered my child.”
Hernandez, 37, of Holton, was arrested March 3 in Holton on charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and criminal sodomy. In August, Hernandez, who is married with three children, pleaded no contest in accordance with a plea agreement. The new charges were lewd and lascivious behavior and indecent solicitation of a child — both felonies.
Hernandez must register as a sex offender for 25 years.
Hernandez was a business education teacher at Holton High School until he resigned in December.
Nicole Romine, an assistant attorney general, prosecuted the case. She said the attorney general’s office considered the victim when amending the charges to avoid a jury trial.
“Ultimately, I think the victim was protected, the defendant was held accountable, and justice was served,” Romine said.
The victim, now 16, is a junior at Holton High. The Topeka Capital-Journal doesn’t publish the names of victims of sex crimes.
In court, the teen described how she didn’t want to get out of bed for her first day back at school after her parents discovered the nature of her relationship with Hernandez. She said her mother, Monica Briner, drove her to school, where the girl’s best friend met her outside and grabbed her hand so they could walk into the building together.
“Everybody looked,” the girl said. “I got out my headphones and put my music on.”
Later that day, she went to the second floor of the school and entered the classroom where Hernandez taught. She began crying and left the room.
“I slammed my fist into the lockers, which is where he kissed me (the first time),” she said. “I realized I was going to have to go inside that building every day.”
The teenager also said her peers called her names and yelled at her through open car windows.
Briner, who said the family’s goal has been to prevent Hernandez from teaching again, also read a statement. She said Hernandez on seven different occasions propped open doors at Holton High after hours so her daughter could enter his classroom, where the two would engage in sexual activity.
“The greatest trauma was not in the sexual things he did to her, but in destroying her every concept of love, trust, relationships, God and the world she lives in,” Briner told The Capital-Journal.
During the sentencing, Briner also spoke about text messages Hernandez sent her daughter in which “he described how her skin felt next to his and how he was in love with her.”
“For the 30 days prior to sexual activity with my daughter for which Mr. Hernandez has been found guilty, he exchanged 3,388 text messages with a 15-year-old child who was his student and a member of his (church) youth group,” Briner said. “He exchanged over 1,000 minutes of voice telephone time as well. The majority of those texts were sent from him to her, not vice versa.
“And let’s clarify for some of the pastors who have approached me over the past eight months: Demons did not enter his body and make him do things he wouldn’t have normally done. The devil didn’t whisper in his ear and force him down the wrong road. He made a conscious decision of his free will to give into his sick desires of the flesh for a young girl.”
Briner said although she is “seethingly angry” at Hernandez and upset at herself for not noticing the relationship and the school for not protecting her child, she still loves the Holton community and the school district.
“It is a great school,” she said. “It is filled with amazing and compassionate educators. I don’t want one bad teacher to become the image of Holton High School.”
Hernandez is required to surrender at 6 p.m. Sept. 30 to the Jackson County Jail. He will serve 60 days but is eligible for work release.
“If he’s not working, he’s in jail,” District Judge Michael Ireland said.
Briner said the 60 days of jail wasn’t part of the plea agreement and came as a surprise to her.
She said her daughter is coming to terms with what happened and is reclaiming her life.
“She realizes what he did was wrong,” she said. “She is still forming her own opinion about how she feels about it. Our support system has been wonderful. I don’t fault his friends.
”What I do fault are grown adults who want to extend grace to a child molester, but they don’t want to extend an equal amount of grace to the child.”
Not only did he get hired at Best Buy before he was convicted, but now he is a Manager and has keys to the store. It won't wont be ;long before he's propping doors open for ipads....................
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That dinosaur boy at the end. Adorbs. Stud.
(every time I use that emoticon, I wonder why it hasn't been changed to 
I think they should be reversed.)
