Ex-teacher to serve 4 years for sex abuse
JIM CHAPMAN | The Journal Gazette
A former teacher has been ordered to serve four years of a six-year prison sentence for sexual misconduct with a girl at a defunct Fort Wayne charter school.
Eric M. Gerdes, 40, pleaded guilty in October in Allen Superior Court to felony sexual misconduct with a minor.
Judge David Zent on Monday sentenced Gerdes to six years – with two years suspended – and two years probation. Additional charges of sexual misconduct, child molesting, vicarious sexual gratification and dissemination of matter harmful to minors were dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Eric M. Gerdes, 39, of Indiana, was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday
He pleaded guilty to one count of sexual misconduct with a minor in October
Gerdes was a teacher at a charter school when the alleged incidents occurred
Authorities said he had sexual contact with a student in one of his classrooms
The then-sixth grade student said he also watched her in explicit video chats