M
myway14
Guest
<span class="mainhead style4"><font size="5">Former Winona High School teacher and coach Jeffrey Alan Walker, 31, pled guilty on Tuesday of sexual battery in Montgomery County Circuit Court.</font></span></p> <div class="instory-left"> <span class="mainhead style4"><font size="5"></font></span> </div>
<span class="mainhead style4"><font size="5">Walker confessed to having a relationship with a then-17-year-old female student at Winona High School from August 2007 to December 2007.
Walker resigned during winter break in December. He was employed at Winona High School for a year-and-a-half.
"[Mr. Walker] is a person in a position of trust," District Attorney Doug Evans told the court.
Mississippi Code SEC. 97-3-95 states that "a person is guilty of sexual battery if he or she engages in [sexual relations] with a child of fourteen (14) but less than eighteen (18) years if the person is in a position of trust or authority over the child including without limitation the child's teacher, counselor, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, minister, priest, physical therapist, chiropractor, legal guardian, parent, stepparent, aunt, uncle, scout leader or coach." The maximum sentence is 30 years and/or a $10,000 fine, according to Judge Clarence Morgan, residing judge for the case.
According to Evans in Tuesday's hearing, sexual battery charges could be substantiated by testimony of the victim, e-mail messages, and text messages sent by Walker.
</font></span></p> <div class="instory-right"> <span class="mainhead style4"><font size="5"></font></span> </div>
<span class="mainhead style4"><font size="5"><span>Walker reached a plea deal with the district attorney's office, and Morgan accepted the deal that sentenced Walker to 10 years in prison with all 10 years suspended. He also received five years of supervised probation. This deal does not include any jail time for Walker, but it does mandate that he register as a sex offender.
"We met with the family and the police department, and that is what we recommended," Evans said.
Evans also said that Walker had no prior criminal record, and that fact played some part in the sentence recommendation. If he had a past criminal record, the District Attorney could not have placed him on probation.
</span></font></span></p>
<span class="mainhead style4"><font size="5">Walker confessed to having a relationship with a then-17-year-old female student at Winona High School from August 2007 to December 2007.
Walker resigned during winter break in December. He was employed at Winona High School for a year-and-a-half.
"[Mr. Walker] is a person in a position of trust," District Attorney Doug Evans told the court.
Mississippi Code SEC. 97-3-95 states that "a person is guilty of sexual battery if he or she engages in [sexual relations] with a child of fourteen (14) but less than eighteen (18) years if the person is in a position of trust or authority over the child including without limitation the child's teacher, counselor, physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, minister, priest, physical therapist, chiropractor, legal guardian, parent, stepparent, aunt, uncle, scout leader or coach." The maximum sentence is 30 years and/or a $10,000 fine, according to Judge Clarence Morgan, residing judge for the case.
According to Evans in Tuesday's hearing, sexual battery charges could be substantiated by testimony of the victim, e-mail messages, and text messages sent by Walker.
</font></span></p> <div class="instory-right"> <span class="mainhead style4"><font size="5"></font></span> </div>
<span class="mainhead style4"><font size="5"><span>Walker reached a plea deal with the district attorney's office, and Morgan accepted the deal that sentenced Walker to 10 years in prison with all 10 years suspended. He also received five years of supervised probation. This deal does not include any jail time for Walker, but it does mandate that he register as a sex offender.
"We met with the family and the police department, and that is what we recommended," Evans said.
Evans also said that Walker had no prior criminal record, and that fact played some part in the sentence recommendation. If he had a past criminal record, the District Attorney could not have placed him on probation.
</span></font></span></p>
