Thursday, March 27, 2008

High school teacher charged with sexual relations with student

By Annette Lawless

VIDEO:

Manhattan High School teacher charged with sexual relations with student.

Manhattan — The teacher at the center of the controversy, 31 year-old Katherine Harder, taught at Manhattan High and at K-State over the past few years.

Michele Jones, communications coordinator for USD 383, said Harder was a good teacher.

"Ms. Harder was a language arts teacher at Manhattan High School. She had worked for us for about three years, and she resigned from employment this morning," Jones said.

photo

Katherine Harder

Harder and the boy drove down this road to a secluded area outside of Manhattan.

And this is where Pottawatomie County police say they found the two in a car about 10 o'clock Wednesday night, the Spillway Marina at Tuttle Creek State Park.

Authorities say the 31-year-old teacher was having sex with one of her students, a boy, 17-years-old.

Though this arrest has rattled the Manhattan School District, Jones says it's not the school's first sex scandal.

"I had heard through the..just the grapevine that it happened many years ago, so that would have been at least nine years ago, which would have been before my time," Jones said.

School administrators are planning to meet with students and parents wanting answers.

Katherine Harder was released today from jail on a $3,000 bond. She faces five to 13 months in jail if she's convicted.

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Comments

Beavis (anonymous) says...

Harder... hehheh, heh

March 28, 2008 at 1:11 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ozdude766 (anonymous) says...

What an unfortunate last name to have in this situation...

March 28, 2008 at 1:14 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

moderately_big_kahuna (anonymous) says...

Is her neck photoshopped? I bet her car has a sunroof.

March 28, 2008 at 2:01 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JamesBond (anonymous) says...

Whoa! I wonder if they make Turtle necks in 4X for just the neck?

March 28, 2008 at 2:17 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

lp_green29 (anonymous) says...

mrs harder is(was) actually my teacher, and i, along with the rest of the school still cannot believe that MRS HARDER of all people did this. its craaazzy. and its really ironic cuz we JUST finished reading The Scarlet Letter in that class...
and its funny you point out her neck...we ALL make fun of it. and thats an outdated picture of her. she has more curly hair and its about 2 inches longer.
and you think its funny about her name? well, the kids last name was ***.
WE MISS YOU K-HARD!!!!!

(Web staff note: Our news policy does not allow for identification of any minor involved in such a case as this.)

March 28, 2008 at 5:58 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

lp_green29 (anonymous) says...

AAANND she adopted a baby that was a seniors kid. she had it when she was a sophmore, and just to show you how much everybody loved mrs harder, this girl gave her child to her. but i feel bad for the kid now, and the husband.

March 28, 2008 at 6 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

tfabri (anonymous) says...

She's a pretty hot teacher, a lot hotter than anything I ever had as a student. I just can't figure out why these teachers are going hog wild over these kiddies when all they have to do is ask and they can have a real man.....like me.

March 29, 2008 at 8:41 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Devlin (anonymous) says...

I still don't get the double hyprocacy involved . I see all these nabbings of these ' bad' women taking advantage of these sweet little innocent boys ,[ HA ],raging hormones right out of the gate, BUT a 19 yr. old [ adult ]can get a 15 yr. old pregnant and it's fodder for all the national tabloids and yellow dog journalism . She gets 'rewarded' with a television program , and he [ the overgrown oaf ] cruises along for the ride , without any reprecussions from her family or the LAW . ....yeah , I know life is all about justice . JUST US !

March 30, 2008 at 9 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jack209 (anonymous) says...

These types of sex scandals in high schools are very harmful for students that are at a crucial phase of their life. This must be stopped.

http://www.privateboardingschools.info/

May 7, 2008 at 5:08 a.m. ( | suggest removal )