Teacher sentenced to 60 days for continuous sexual abuse of student

Tomball, Texas: On Tuesday, 32-year-old Marka Bodine, a former middle school teacher was  sentenced to 60 days in jail after pleading guilty to continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 in May.

She will not have to report to jail until June 5, 2023 though, due to recently giving birth.

Additionally, Bodine was sentenced to 10 years of probation, ordered to register as a sex offender and will undergo therapy.

Prosecutors had requested that Harris County Judge George Glass sentence Bodine to between 20 and 40 years after admitting that she had abused the boy over the course of three years.

Harris County Prosecutor Janna Oswald expressed frustration over the sentence saying, "There are certain types of cases that, in my opinion, really should only warrant punishment, and that is this kind of case. I'm heartbroken for the complaintant and his family. I'm really disappointed in the outcome as a prosecutor- a child abuse prosecutor, and I'm disappointed as a citizen of Harris County."

We reported in April 2022 when Bodine was arrested and charged after she had reported that a former student was harassing her. She additionally claimed that the student had gained access to explicit images of her and had modified them.

Investigation revealed however, that the teacher and boy, 12-years-old at the time, had begun speaking while playing Fortnight. At that time, Bodine began to groom him.

Shortly after the boy turned 13, Bodine raped him for the first time. The abuse continued until the boy was 15-years-old.

The boy, now 16, took the stand during the sentencing hearing.

Oswald said, "The complaintant is incredibly strong and he's gone through a lot. He got up on the stand in this punishment case and he told his truth, he told everything that happened to him and that takes so much bravery."

"He was incredibly upset," she continued, discussing the sentence. "He left the courtroom in the middle of the judge declaring a sentence because he and his mother were very upset with the outcome."