Former chemistry teacher pleads guilty to sexual assault of student

Last Friday 56-year-old Heidi Hallstein changed her plea to guilty and was therefore convicted on charges of gross sexual imposition and attempted unlawful contact with a minor for an incident that dated back to 2017.

She was arrested for the case in August 2020 and had initially entered a plea of not guilty.

At the time of her arrest, Hudson Schools' Superintendent Phil Herman spoke with the Record-Courier.

Hallstein had been employed with the school since 1995 and had worked as a chemistry teacher. Despite the fact that the investigation revealed that she had assaulted the student at her home and not on school property, he stated the district planned to "initiate the surrender of Ms. Hallstein's teaching license with the Ohio Department of Education."

Neither the name, nor the age of the student at the time of the assault was ever revealed by investigators, but the indictment inditcates that the student would have been 17. She is no longer a student at Hudson High School.

The date for Hallstein's sentencing has not yet been set according to court records, but the maximum sentence she could be subject to is three years and a $10,000 fine should Judge Laurie J. Pittman decide the sentences should run consecutively.

As a result of the plea deal, the prosecution filed a nolle prosequi stating they intended to drop pursuit of further charges against Hallstein.

These reports seem to be coming out at an increasing frequency, and at a time when those still subjected to lockdown orders have been provided with a series entitled A Teacher on streaming services which addresses this topic and goes into what happens after the arrest.