By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
A former math teacher in north-central Iowa has pleaded guilty to having sexual contact with several teenage students.
Ashley Anderson, 24 of Ackley, accepted a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty in Butler County District Court to three counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee. The state agreed to drop a fourth count, The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports, with each carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Police arrested the 24-year-old in October. She was hired in 2010 by the Aplington-Parkersburg school district, where she taught high school math and served as the faculty adviser for Students Against Drunk Driving and the prom committee.
She resigned last fall following a criminal complaint over her behavior during the 2011-2012 school year. That complaint accused her of sending nude photographs of herself to the students and having sexual contact with them. It included having performed oral sex on three other students. The boys ranged in age from 16 to 18. Police said they received information that Anderson had sexually abused a teen who confided in a friend at the high school. A fellow teacher heard about the allegation and contacted police, KETV reported.
A sentencing hearing is set for June. Anderson is alleged to have first begun a relationship with an 18-year-old who was in her math class before having sex with the teen at his home. The criminal complaint charges she also had oral sex with a 16-year-old junior who served on the prom committee and a 16-year-old sophomore.
A fourth relationship with a 17-year-old student included a kiss on a gravel road after track practice last spring and continued after he graduated from the school, the complaint says. In each case, 'Anderson admitted to the conduct,' according to the complaint, which said the relationships spanned from August 1, 2011 to June 30. In a statement released shortly after the complaint was filed, Aplington-Parkersburg High School said: 'We can affirm that our students will always be our first priority and that we have followed all school policies on matters such as this and that the school cooperated fully with the police investigation,' the statement said.
