A former Texas teacher has been sentenced to 60 days in prison for sexually assaulting a student for three years, beginning when he was 13.
Marka Bodine, who had taught the sixth grade, will not have to begin serving time until next year because she just had a baby, a judge ruled.
The infant’s father is not the boy, Bodine’s attorney said.
The 32-year-old woman had pleaded guilty earlier this year to aggravated sexual abuse of a child under 14. She was sentenced on Tuesday. Harris County Judge George Glass also ordered Bodine to serve 10 years of probation. She also must register for life as sex offender and undergo therapy.
The boy told investigators that Bodine befriended him by playing an online video game with him and later sent texts to him. The two exchanged explicit images and began having sex after he turned 13, he told authorities.
Prosecutors and parents expressed frustration over what they said was a light sentence.
Jennifer Kratky’s daughter was in Bodine’s class at Tomball Intermediate School outside Houston.
“To find out that she was only given 60 days, it’s unbelievable,” she said. “And I think our community deserves answers for why that sentence was decided.”