05/17/2008

Associated Press

A former Grand Coulee Dam Middle School teacher who pleaded guilty to having sex with a 15-year-old student has been spared a prison term — at least for now.

Fifty-one-year-old Vernon E. Heizer of Nespelem was sentenced Friday in Okanogan County Superior Court to two years and 10 months, but a judge suspended all but the nine months he already has spent in jail.

Heizer can stay out of prison by successfully completing three to four years of outpatient sex offender treatment. Other conditions include no contact with minors, especially the girl named in the case. He is prohibited from going within 100 yards of her home, school or workplace.

Deputy Prosecutor Jennifer Richardson says the girl's family agreed to the sentence so she won't have to testify in court.

___

Information from: The Wenatchee World, http://www.wenworld.com