JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — (The video above is from a previous report)
A Bradford School District employee and coach that was charged with sending sexual text messages to a student in September of last year has been sentenced to two years of probation.
On Sept, 21 of 2021, deputies said that Lainie Kay Rodgers, 24, was charged with transmission of harmful material to a minor by electronic device, and authority figure soliciting/engaging in lewd conduct with a student.
On Feb. 14, 2022, court records show that a motion to dismiss was filed by Rodgers and her legal team.
The motion argues that the charge of transmission of harmful material to a minor should never have been brought upon Rodgers as there was no actual evidence of transmission. The motion argues that a photo was found in Rodger's camera roll and there was no evidence to suggest that she sent the photo to the victim.
In regard to the charge of offenses against students by authority figures charge, the motion says that the victim stated that Rodgers "consistently refused her advances."
All felony charges against Rodgers were dropped.
Rodgers pleaded no contest to the remaining charge, a misdemeanor, which was contributing to the dependency of a minor. The court ruled that the charge stems from Rodgers failing to report the advances made by the minor.
The court agreed to a “withhold of adjudication”.
The terms of the agreement include the probation, certain restrictions on unsupervised contact with minors and no contact with the victim and their family.
Rodgers was a teacher's assistant and volleyball coach. She was employed for four years with the school district and has since resigned, according to Bradford County Assistant Superintendent Karen Clark.
On Sept. 16, deputies say they received information from a student at Bradford High School regarding inappropriate text messages she had observed on her friend’s phone.
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The texts were being sent from a Bradford School District coach to a high school student and contained sexually explicit language, deputies say.
Detectives say they first interviewed the victim while her parents were present. She denied any inappropriate behavior occurred between her and the suspect, stating they were just friends.
Detectives then proceeded to Rodgers residence to interview her. Rodgers was reportedly cooperative with the detectives and admitted to sending sexually explicit text messages to the victim’s phone.
Upon a secondary interview with the victim, in the presence of her mother, deputies she admitted to having a more involved relationship with the suspect than she had previously stated.