CHELSEA, Vt. (AP) — A former high school principal accused of grooming and molesting a 16-year-old girl has been sentenced to a month in jail and agreed to forgo seeking future work as an educator.
Former Randolph Union High School co-principal David Barnett was sentenced Wednesday under terms of a plea agreement. He’ll report to jail later next week.
The victim, now 25, said she was groomed by her high school principal whom she once trusted as a “father figure,” the Valley News reported.
Barnett, 53, received a sentence of nine months to a year, but most of it was suspended under an agreement with prosecutors in which he pleaded no contest to sexual exploitation of a minor.
The hearing was virtual because Barnett and the victim both live in different states now. The victim said she was satisfied, saying “it’s good he won’t ever teach or be around young women again.”
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