A former Rio Rancho teacher who had sex with a male student who was 16 years old when the relationship began was sentenced to three years of probation by a state district judge on Thursday.
Brenda Ray, 40, pleaded guilty to three counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor as part of a plea agreement during a hearing in Sandoval County District Court. Ray was sentenced following her plea and given probation, according to the Sandoval County District Attorney’s Office.
Ray had been indicted by a grand jury in September on three counts of criminal sexual penetration and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
According to a criminal complaint, Ray was a teacher at Rio Rancho High during the 2007-08 school year when she began a relationship with one of her male students, who was then a 16-year-old junior.
The first incident occurred in December 2007, when Ray performed a sexual act on the student after they drove to a secluded area. The second incident took place at Haynes Park, and a third took place at the student’s home.
In December 2009, Ray allegedly sent emails to him recalling their encounters and talked about “sex in the hall” and the “crime committed.” There were 47 emails, with the last one sent on May 9, 2011.
The relationship continued after Ray’s former student became a college freshman. The teen told police that he drank and used drugs with Ray after he graduated from high school, according to the complaint.
Ray’s husband later found out about the affair, according to the complaint.
Police began investigating Ray after someone who knows the victim came forward with a tip, which led to Ray’s arrest in July.
Ray had worked for the district since 1998, moving from Rio Rancho High to Cleveland High in September 2009.
She resigned in May from her English teaching position at Cleveland High, according to Rio Rancho Public Schools.
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