Mary Beth Haglin potential FIVE YEAR sentence for lurid Dr Phil student sex confessions
An Iowa teacher-turned-stripper who was charged with sleeping with a 17-year-old student is now facing tougher count after her lurid confessions during a Dr Phil appearance.
Mary Beth Haglin, 24, admitted to sleeping with the teen daily on the October 17 edition of the show. She was arrested in July last year.
As a result, prosecutors have upgraded her charges from misdemeanor sexually exploiting a minor to felony sexual exploitation - bumping her maximum sentence up from two to five years, the NY Post reported.
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Dr woo-hoo! Disgraced teacher Mary Bath Haglin (left), 24, confessed Dr Phil (right) that she had sex with one of her 17-year-old students 'hundreds of times' on his October 19 show
In trouble: Haglin had already been charged with misdemeanor sexual exploitation, but that was upgraded to a felony charge after she made the shocking admission
Snap unhappy: Haglin gave this photo - and nude images - to her 17-year-old lover, who then shared them with his friends. She now works as a stripper under the name 'Bambi'
Papers filed by the Linn County Attorney's Office in Cedar Rapids point directly to her TV appearances - which also included interviews with Inside Edition and Crime Watch Daily - as the reason for her tougher charges.
Haglin 'admitted engaging in a pattern or practice of sexual conduct with a student while employed as a teacher at Washington High School, which supports the more serious felony offence,' the papers said.
The ex-teacher, who now strips under the name 'Bambi,' was arrested in July their their six-month affair was spotted by an eagle-eyed classmate - and after the teen showed off her nude pictures to his friends.
The pair had hooked up while Haglin was working at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids.
Their relationship, which ran from January to May this year began, she told Dr Phil, he seduced her with romantic Post-Its.
At the end of class, he would leave the messages on her desk calling her ‘my empress’ and ‘Mrs Robinson’ - the latter a reference the older woman who seduces a young man in the movie 'The Graduate.'
Eventually, Haglin said, a fight with her then-boyfriend drove her into the teen's arms - and into a relationship that she says the 17-year-old convinced her was real.
'He did so with such intelligence and such an elevated vocabulary that I was completely duped by the whole facade,' Haglin told Dr Phil.
In one letter, written when Haglin was moonlighting as a waitress, the adolescent suggestively wrote: ‘I love the way you smell like pizza. It drives me crazy wanting a piece of the crust.’
Toy boy: Haglin said the teen (right) seduced her with romantic letters. She originally faced a maximum sentence of two years but that has now been extended to a possible five years
Wordsmith: Haglin said the boy's seductive messages - and a break-up with her boyfriend - led to their six-month dalliance. They were caught when his schoolmate spotted them together
Haglin admitted to having sex with the 17-year-old almost every day for nine months, sometimes in her or his car, other times in the homes of the boy's parents.
Eventually, she said he convinced her to send him sexy photos of herself, including some naked selfies, which he later reportedly shared with his friends at school.
'I don’t know what was going through his brain,' Haglin said. 'He thought it would be cool... bragging rights... I don’t know.'
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Share 56 sharesHaglin said she didn't think he would disseminate the intimate snapshots 'because in my mind if you’re in a real relationship, you don’t just run around with your phone saying, "Hey, look, look everybody, look how hot my girlfriend is."'
She added, 'Looking back now I think, "Oh, my God, what was I thinking? What was I doing?"'
Their relationship finally came to light when a female student noticed the teen sneaking into Haglin's class on breaks.
She went to her mom with her concerns, and the woman confronted Haglin point-blank at the school.
Bad teacher: Haglin (left and right), has now been charged with felony sexual exploitation. If convicted, she will have to put herself on the sex offenders' register for ten years
'She said, "Yes, it's true,"' said the parent. 'She kept telling me that she was in love with this young man, that as soon as he graduated, they were going to get married.'
Rebecca had Haglin write a statement confessing to the tryst, which she then took to school administrators.
Haglin was fired from her job in May at the conclusion of an internal investigation and arrested in July.
An earlier probe conducted in February had failed to prove any wrongdoing on Haglin’s part.
Both investigations have since been labelled as ‘ineffective’ by the school district, with accusations that staff tried to perform a cover-up.
According to a cache of emails obtained by The Gazette, Washington High Principal Dr Ralph Plagman even agreed to write Haglin a letter of recommendation in the midst of the second investigation.
That bombshell led to the resignations of three high-ranking officials, including Plagman, according to The Gazette.
Haglin's trial date has been set for November 14. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of five years and will have to register as a sex offender for ten years.
Sticky love notes: The teen would leave Post-It notes with romantic messages like this on her desk, she said
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