Married N.C. high school teacher, 23, arrested for sexual affair with student
Following up on a tip involving potential inappropriate contact between a teacher and a student at Cox Mill High School in Concord, North Carolina, police in Concord arrested 23-year-old Katherine Ross Ridenhour after they were able to corroborate allegations that Ridenhour was involved in a sexual affair with one of her students, according to a November 15 release from the Concord Police Department. The teacher was charged with two counts of Indecent Liberties with a Student and released after being provided a written promise to appear in court.
Fox News reported that the teacher is married and is also the junior varsity cheerleading coach at Cox Mill High School. She was hired by the school district in August 2016 as a family consumer and science teacher. She resigned from her teaching position following her arrest. Ridenhour is a 2016 graduate of Liberty University, according to The Charlotte Observer.
Although the sexual affair between Ridenhour and the 17-year-old was deemed to be consensual in nature and that the teen was at the age determined to be able to provide consent, the teacher was still criminally charged “because he’s a student and she’s in a position of authority,” according to NBC News affiliate WCNC-TV.
Parents of students from Cox Mill are concerned about inappropriate sexual relations between students and teachers and are having trouble believing that it’s a phenomenon that continues to exist even though teachers should be well aware of the legal consequences. Fox News quoted one parent as saying, “They need to come up with something more severe and strict in cases like this. I don’t know what, but something needs to be done because it’s happening everywhere daily.” Another parent said, “I think it’s appalling, and I don’t understand why this keeps happening. It’s being reported a lot and I don’t understand why teachers think it’s okay to mess around with students.”
~ Written by: Ace News Today Staff
