Ex-Ohio Teacher Pleads Guilty to 'Unsettling' Sexual Abuse of an Underage Student for 18 Months By Sean Neumann

A former sixth-grade teacher in Ohio has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing an underage girl over the course of 18 months, PEOPLE has learned.

Stefanie Erin Kellenberger pleaded guilty on Monday, Aug. 4, to all 21 charges against her, according to Richland County Common Pleas Court records reviewed by PEOPLE.

The 40-year-old, who describes herself on an Instagram account as a “wife, mom, teacher,” will likely receive a 15-year prison sentence when she next appears in court in early October, according to the court records, which show the sentence she and prosecutors agreed upon ahead of her guilty pleas.

The charges include 17 counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and four counts of sexual battery, court records show. All of the charges are third-degree felonies.

Kellenberger was first arraigned last October, seven months after she was placed on leave by the Shelby City School District, according to the local Richland Source.

The outlet reported that the school district’s superintendent informed parents in a letter that officials received “unsettling” allegations against Kellenberger and that the Mansfield, Ohio woman was accused of sexually abusing an underage girl between February 2020 and October 2021, starting when the girl was as young as 13 years old.

Kellenberger “was immediately placed on leave and has had no contact with students or staff since the investigation began,” Superintendent Michael Browning wrote in the letter to parents at the time, according to the Richland Source. Two months later, Kellenberger was officially replaced with another teacher, the outlet reported.

The Mansfield News Journal reported that prosecutors alleged in court that Kellenberger began grooming the underage student when she was 13 years old and began to sexually abuse her when she turned 14. “The relationship continued until the age of consent,” Bryan Dove, the assistant prosecutor for Richland County, reportedly told the judge, referring to Ohio’s law that says 16 is the age of consent.

“Consent was never an issue in this case,” Kellenberger’s defense attorney James Mayer III told the court, according to the newspaper. “It’s an age thing.”

State prosecutors then told the court there was “no use of force” in Kellenberger’s sexual abuse. The victim reportedly recommended Kellenberger serve three years in jail, but the judge declared that sentence was too lenient, leading the defense attorneys for the disgraced teacher and state prosecutors to come to an agreement on the 15-year recommended sentence, according to the Mansfield News Journal.

Kellenberger will also have to report with the county sheriff as a registered sex offender, court documents show. She is due back in court on Oct. 6.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.