A former DeKalb County middle school teacher will spend three years in prison and pay hefty fines after pleading guilty to molesting a teenage girl in Clayton County.
Charles Thomas McClendon pleaded guilty in Clayton Superior Court to two counts of sexual assault on a minor under 16 and one count of interference with custody, Clayton District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson told the Clayton News Daily.
McClendon, who appeared in court last Friday, was give a 10-year sentence: three to be served in prison and the remaining seven on probation. He also must pay a $2,000 fine and $32 a month in probation fees, Lawson said.
Clayton County Superior Court Judge Geronda Carter also ordered McClendon to stay away from the victim and her family, the News Daily said.
Jonesboro police arrested McClendon in July 2009. According to a police report, an officer came up on McClendon's pickup truck, which was parked behind the El Tarasco Mexican Restaurant.
McClendon told police he "picked up his girlfriend, and they were there for the purpose of having sex," but police later testified that he admitted to fondling the victim, a teenage girl.
Police said the girl at first said she was 18, but officers later determined she was 15, the News Daily said. McClendon told police he thought she was 17.
McClendon told police he met the victim at school. He was a math teacher at Stone Mountain Middle School in DeKalb County and was 29 at the time.
McClendon's attorney, Keith Adams, told the News Daily that he was fired shortly after his arrest.
"I think that it's an unfortunate situation all the way around," Adams said.
"He will serve his time, take his punishment, and hopefully be able to move on with his life," Adams said.
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