A former Mountain Home, Ark. teacher accused of having sex with a then 17-year-old student pled guilty to lesser charges during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Madison Harned, 28, was working as a teacher in the Mountain Home Public Schools Career Academies, when she was arrested. Harned pled guilty to second-degree sexual assault and was put on probation for 10 years. She will never be allowed to teach school again and will be required to register as a sex offender.
In sentencing Harned, Judge Putman said, "it's plain that your teaching days are over. I know how hard it is to get the degrees and training necessary to be in a classroom, and you have thrown all of that away."
Harned was arrested in August 2023 after the Mountain Home police department received a report of "inappropriate contact" between a teacher employed at Mountain Home High School and a juvenile student.
During an interview with law enforcement, Harned reportedly stated that she and the juvenile student conversed on social media throughout the summer. "Harned admitted to having sexual intercourse on three separate occasions with the 17-year-old juvenile during the month of July," the affidavit stated.
During a later interview, the juvenile "confirmed that the two had sexual intercourse on multiple occasions throughout the month of July and August."
At the time, Superintendent Allyson Dewey issued the following statement: "The safety and well-being of our students is of the utmost importance to the district. We're working closely and openly with law enforcement as this investigation unfolds, and at this time, we are not able to provide further comment as this is a personnel matter."
