Former coach is sentenced to two years of supervised probation

By KEN BLACK, TIMES-REPUBLICAN
A former assistant wrestling coach at Marshalltown High School was sentenced to two years of supervised probation Monday after having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student.


Jeremy Hendricks, 28, submitted an Alford plea on charges of sexual exploitation by a school employee, which does not admit guilt but acknowledges that a trial would likely end in conviction.


Paul Crawford, an assistant county attorney, said he felt prison time was not warranted.


“The student was above the legal age of consent,” he told the court. “[Were it] not for this law, the consensual sexual activities would have been legal.”


Still, Crawford noted that a penalty needed to be paid in the case.


“The limitations are placed on the school employee, not the student. The student’s consent does not legalize the employee’s conduct,” he said.


Hendricks pleaded with the court for a sentence that included no supervised probation.


He said the ordeal has already caused him to reconsider what he had been doing.


“I’ve made changes to my life in order to prevent anything like this from ever happening again,” he said.


Hendricks’ attorney, Eric Bidwell, argued that being on the sex offender registry was punishment enough for his client.


“I’m not sure there’s any period of incarceration that can disrupt a person’s life more than being [labeled] a sex offender for 10 years,” he said.


Because of residency restrictions that apply to sex offenders, Hendricks has already put his home up for sale, something he said he and his wife would never have done if it were not required by law.


Given the amount of money they put into renovating the home, trying to sell it in a buyer’s market and having two mortgages, Hendricks said he has already lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.


Judge Kim Riley took note that Hendricks has no previous criminal history. However, she also said his position required him to act responsibly.


“You really are in a unique position to influence young people,” she said. “Some of those impressions last a lifetime in the mind of a young individual.”


She noted that he worked to gain the trust not only of students, but co-workers and his own family.


“To say that you violated that trust would be an understatement,” she said.


The judge also added the victim was also harmed emotionally, being the subject of ridicule and gossip at school to the point she became an outsider her senior year.


In addition to the supervised probation, Hendricks also received a two-year, suspended prison sentence.


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Contact Ken Black at 641-753-6611 or kblack@timesrepublican.com