Arkansas Teacher Whose Students Honored Her on National TV Gets Prison for Sex with 17-Year-Old Boy

A teacher in Arkansas, whose students surprised her on national television in 2020, has been sentenced to prison for having sex with a 17-year-old student she met at the school where she taught.

Thirty-three-year-old Heather Hare was sentenced to 13 years behind bars in the case, the New York Post reported Monday, noting she is a married mother. In addition, she will serve 20 years concurrently.

In a press release Wednesday, the United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Arkansas said Hare was sentenced by United States District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky, and gave more details about the case.

The agency said Hare taught Family Consumer Science classes at Bryant High School where she met the victim. Following their meeting on the first day of his senior year, the woman began counseling sessions with the victim, gave him her personal phone number, and communicated with him via Instagram and Snapchat:

Hare later told the minor victim that she had a dream of them having sex and gave the victim her home address in Conway. The minor victim and Hare engaged in sexual activity between 20 to 30 times throughout the 2021-2022 school term, including multiple times at her Conway residence, in her vehicle, and in her classroom and parking lots at Bryant High School.

Between April 21 and April 24, 2022, Hare was the sponsor and chaperone for a field trip to Washington, D.C., as part of an extracurricular activity related to the Family Consumer Science courses Hare taught. During the field trip, Hare and the minor victim engaged in the unlawful sexual activity to which she pleaded guilty.

Hare was indicted on August 1, 2023, and charged with one count of interstate/foreign travel for prostitution/sexual activity by coercion and one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. In exchange for her guilty plea, the remaining charge was dismissed.

According to the Post, the now former teacher’s students surprised her on Good Morning America in 2020 when they said goodbye as her class was canceled amid the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

Community members spoke out after Hare was fired amid the sexual assault allegations in April 2023, KARK reported at the time.

“I’m saddened by it, actually. I think an adult, and you’re teaching our children, that you would take your platform to misuse and abuse someone else’s child. It’s not fair to the community, it’s not fair to the parents of the child,” one woman said:

According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network’s (RAINN) website, perpetrators of child sexual abuse are usually someone the victim or family knows.

“They can have any relationship to the child including an older sibling or playmate, family member, a teacher, a coach or instructor, a caretaker, or the parent of another child,” the organization said.

Per the attorney’s office, Hare was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release in the case.