Christen Hayes
/ Photo by Craig McDowell
SYRACUSE -- A former OCM BOCES teaching assistant is going to jail after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a student.
Christen Hayes, 30, of Binghamton, pleaded guilty to third degree rape. She was sentenced in Onondaga County Court Friday morning to six months in jail, then ten years on probation.
Prosecutors say Hayes engaged in sexual activity with a student younger than 17-years-old on several occasions in 2009 and 2010. They say there is no evidence that anything happened on school grounds.
Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh says Hayes first saw the student at Kasson Road School. Investigators say the two started talking on MySpace, then met in person after talking online.
School officials say Hayes was employed by BOCES from July 2006 through August 2010. She was employed as a teacher for the summer of 2010 at the Onondaga Road Elementary School. At the end of the summer, Hayes resigned for personal reasons.
While in court, Hayes did issue an apology.
