July 12, 2024 noon
(WGTD)---The former Indian Trail High School orchestra teacher who had an inappropriate relationship with a student was given five more years beyond the mandatory minimum, even though the victim requested no prison time.
28-year-old Nathan Gardner was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison by Judge Anthony Milisauskas. Inferring to the string of similar national and local cases, Milisaukas said: "Something has to stop with this stuff."
Anything less than a 10-year sentence might not be a strong enough deterrent to others, he said.
The victim was 15 when he and Gardner met on social media. Both initially lied about their ages. But an exchange of inappropriate images and text messages continued even after both came clean over who they actually were.
The victim, now 17, wrote a statement that was read in court in which he tried to take full responsibility for what happened. "I manipulated him," the boy said. "I never wanted it to turn out like this."
But the judge, the prosecutor, defense attorney and even the defendant himself rejected the boy's attempted admission of guilt in the matter. "I took advantage of someone and abused their trust," Gardner said in apologizing, adding that he hoped his acts would not tarnish the teaching profession.
Prosecutor Alexandra Smathers said 15-year-olds are not in a position to make the kinds of decisions that the victim did. "There is a reason we have an age of consent," she said. "It cannot be overlooked that the defendant was a teacher."
Milisauskas said parents send their kids to school presuming they will be safe.
The relationship between Gardner and the student came to light when some of the boy's friends reported it.
Gardner pleaded guilty to a single count of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime. The maximum time in prison is 25 years. The minimum, as established by the legislature, is 5.
Gardner's attorney recommended a 7-year term.
He'll receive credit for 249 days of time served while awaiting trial.
All of those in court acknowledged that Gardner's teaching days are over.
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