Lima teacher gets 4 years in prison for sex with student

KENTON — Whitney Chiles was well-educated and had her dream job but she broke a golden rule in the teaching profession by letting herself get too close to a 15-year-old student, which led to a sexual relationship.Her actions not only cost her a career and reputation but also her freedom.The 30-year-old Chiles was sentenced Monday to four years in prison for the crime of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. She also will have to register as a sex offender for 25 years after her release.“I am ashamed and embarrassed I let myself get into a situation like this,” Chile said. “It has pretty much destroyed my life as I know it.”Chiles said she became friends with the boy, who she had tutored as an intervention specialist. They began exchanging messages through Facebook and other ways, and quickly became more than just a teacher and student. Class gave them a chance to hang out and enjoy each other's company and she felt she was helping him, she said.“I know it doesn't look good for a 30-year-old to be hanging out with a 15-year-old. I had no intentions of doing anything,” she said.But on Feb. 18, 2011, she drove to Lima to pick up the child and drove back to Hardin County and waited for her husband to leave. Once he left, she and the boy drove to her home and began smoking marijuana the boy brought and then had sex, Hardin County Prosecutor Brad Bailey said.She drove him back to Allen County and gave him money to buy food.Chiles' attorney, Bill Kluge, said the boy tried to blackmail Chiles into giving him $50 a week to remain silent, but Bailey said the boy used the demand for money to get away from Chiles.“He said there is a purpose why I did that. It was to keep her off my back,” Bailey said. Chiles said the boy initiated sex by kissing her.“I told him I did not want that and I tried to push him off. I just couldn't do it and I finally gave in and we did have sex,” she said.Kluge described a relationship Chiles had with her husband in which the two had grown apart and stopped communicating. “Whitney had indicated to me her husband would come home and play games on the computer from the time he got home to the time they went to bed,” Kluge said. Chiles said the case against her allowed her to reconnect with her husband for a short time before his sudden death of an unknown heart problem. Judge William Hart recognized Chiles' accomplishments as a teacher but said there was no excuse for her actions.“You stood in a position of authority over this young man and you used your position of trust to facilitate it,” he said. Chiles plans to file for early release after serving six months in prison. “I hope you will agree with the state's recommendation so I am not away from my son longer than I need to be because my son is only 4 and he doesn't have his daddy anymore and he needs his mommy,” she said.While Bailey said he would not oppose early release, Hart made it clear she is sentenced to serve four years with only a chance for early release, which is up to him.The matter surfaced after several teachers who became aware of the inappropriate relationship alerted school officials to the matter, Bailey said. Ada police officers searched Chiles' home in Ada, confiscating items after officers received reports of inappropriate behavior with a teenager.Chiles resigned her position at Lima North Middle School, where she worked with special-education pupils since 2006.