A 25-year-old high school teacher, McKenna Kindred, was convicted of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student at Central Valley High School in Spokane Valley, Washington. Kindred pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor and communication with a minor for immoral purposes. The inappropriate relationship began in June 2022 when the minor discovered Kindred’s Instagram account, and they began messaging each other. In November of that year, the two had sex while Kindred’s husband was away on a hunting trip.
The relationship was discovered when the minor’s friends shared screenshots of the messages with school officials in December 2022. Although both Kindred and the teen initially denied any sexual relationship, an investigation revealed that they had been exchanging inappropriate messages and had engaged in sexual activities. The school district placed Kindred on administrative leave before she resigned in 2023. The victim’s mother claimed that Kindred had groomed her son since he was 16, and her actions had affected his well-being and ability to complete his education on campus.
During her impact statement to the court, the victim’s mother, Ashley Beckley, expressed concerns about her son’s emotional, social, and academic well-being as a result of Kindred’s actions. She felt that her son’s “light had been dimmed” due to the abuse of power by the teacher. Despite expressing remorse and apologizing to the victim and his family, Kindred admitted the pain she had caused and the consequences of her actions, including losing her career, relationships, and freedoms. She was sentenced to 2 years of probation, received fines, and was ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
Since her arrest, Kindred has been seeing a counselor voluntarily for her mental health, depression, anxiety, and marital issues. Her counselor acknowledged that these issues were not excuses for her crimes but had contributed to them. He also mentioned that Kindred had suffered severe collateral consequences as a result of her actions. The case received attention due to the lack of jail time for the teacher despite the harmful impact on the victim as expressed by his mother and the severe consequences for Kindred.
