CLEVELAND — A former Bedford High School teacher has accepted a guilty plea after being charged with having sex with two male students over the span of a year.
Thirty-one-year-old Laura Dunker pleaded to two counts of sexual battery Thursday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. in Judge Joseph D. Russo's courtroom.
Authorities say a school resource officer was notified of the relationship between Dunker and one of the students, and the resource officer then reported the allegations to the Bedford police detective bureau. Dunker resigned from her position on Dec. 4, the same day she was arrested and charged with six counts of sexual battery.
"We offered services for those affected and will continue to offer support to those who may have been impacted by these allegations," Superintendent Andrea Celico said at the time. "As always, our priority is for the care and concern for the student victims and our school community as a whole."
Dunker's illegal relationships with the boys began in November of 2018 and continued until November of last year, according to officials. She apparently had sex with one of the teens four times and the other twice, with three encounters taking place inside her car.
In exchange for Dunker's guilty plea, four of the original charges as well as a tampering with evidence allegation were dropped. She has been out on bond since Jan. 6, but now faces up to 10 years in prison and will likely have to register as a sex offender for an undetermined period of time.
