Ex-teacher sentenced for sex with student

Wednesday, March 16, 2005 | 8:50 a.m.

A 28-year-old former Chaparral High School teacher was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail for having sex with a 17-year-old student.

Kenneth Bruce Stacy pleaded guilty on Jan. 11 to one count of sexual conduct between a school employee and a pupil.

Stacy, a former English teacher, had originally faced more serious charges -- two counts of sexual misconduct -- for allegedly having sex with the girl in July 2004 at his home, according to his arrest report.

District Judge Jackie Glass sentenced Stacy to a suspended sentenced of one to three years in prison and placed him on three years' probation, but she ordered him to serve the first six months of probation at the Clark County Detention Center.

Glass opted against following the terms of a more lenient plea agreement Stacy reached with prosecutors. The judge ordered Stacy to serve the six months consecutive to six months in jail he was given by District Judge Jennifer Togliatti for violating his probation on another case.

Togliatti originally had given Stacy a suspended sentence of six months and placed on probation for two years for one count of gross misdemeanor attempted grand larceny, but he violated his probation by having sex with his student.

In sentencing Stacy, Glass said he was in a position as a teacher where the first word that should have entered his mind was "no."

"For whatever reason, you did not have the wherewithal to do that, and that's why you are standing here in chains today," Glass said.

Stacy accepted responsibility for his actions, saying what he had done was the "worst thing that has ever happened to my family, myself, the victim and her family."

The judge said although she appreciated Stacy's remorse, parents are forced to trust teachers with their children and he violated that trust.

Stacy's attorney, Robert Draskovich, said he felt Glass had been fair, but "the felony will follow him the rest of his life. He lost a job and a career in teaching."

With the felony conviction Stacy will not be able to teach again, authorities said.

Stacy had worked with the Clark County School District for a little more than two years prior to his arrest last year, district officials said.