| August 11, 2005 English teacher charged with having sex with 16-year-old student KINGSTON, Mich. (AP) -- A married 27-year-old English teacher was arraigned on eight counts of criminal sexual conduct after police and prosecutors said she had a four-week affair with a 16-year-old student. Kristen A. Margrif of Mayville faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on seven counts of third-degree and one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. She is free on a $45,000 personal recognizance bond until her next court appearance Aug. 22. "It is an extraordinarily unusual case, and it is obviously deeply troubling," Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark Reene told The Saginaw News for a Thursday story. During the Wednesday arraignment, police and prosecutors alleged Margrif met the student, who will enter either eighth or ninth grade in the fall, eight times for sex between June 25 and July 18, including in her car and at the teen's summer job. Reene and State Police Sgt. Brian Newcomb of the Caro Post said the four-year employee of Kingston Community Schools admitted the affair to her husband, then eventually consulted a pastor from her family's church. When she disclosed the student's age, the pastor was bound by state law to report knowledge of a possible crime against a student and minor. Margrif is charged under state law that makes it illegal for a teacher to have sex with a student younger than 18 who attends the school where the teacher works, even though Michigan's legal age of consent is 16. Superintendent George Bednorek said the school district plans to have Margrif teaching unless she is convicted. "I'm very surprised," he said. "She is an excellent staff member, innocent until proven guilty." http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw119741_20050811.htm |