Former Clarksville teacher pleads guilty to sexual battery of student

CLARKSVILLE — A former West Creek Middle School teacher who started a program to mentor boys without father figures pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of aggravated statutory rape and two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure.

Brandon Kyle Hester, 28, was sentenced in Circuit Court to five years in prison but will only serve one full year in custody and then four years of supervised probation, according to a plea agreement.

He will also have to register as a dangerous sex offender on the state's sex offender registry.

Hester was arrested Aug. 14 and had also been charged with two counts of rape of a child and two counts of aggravated sexual battery, but those four charges were dropped in the plea bargain.

According to indictments, Hester had sexual contact with a boy between the ages of 13 and 18, between Jan. 1, 2011, and Sept. 16, 2011.

Hester worked at West Creek Middle School from August 2010 to October 2012, according to school records. He started an off-campus after-school program to mentor boys without father figures and the victim was a member of that club.

Teacher charged with sex assaults on child

The Leaf-Chronicle does not publish the name of sex assault victims.

In a victim impact statement, the boy told Circuit Court Judge William Goodman that he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety because of Hester's actions. He said the abuse has impacted his social life, grades and relationships.

"Morning and night, I suffer from flashbacks," the victim said.

Assistant District Attorney Zoe Sams of Davidson County handled the prosecution to avoid any potential conflicts.

Goodman sentenced Hester to five years, with 100 percent of the first year to be served, followed by supervised probation on each of the four counts Hester pleaded guilty to. The sentences will run concurrently, meaning at the same time.

Goodman also ordered Hester to undergo sex offender treatment.

Following the sentence, Hester was taken into custody immediately.

Teacher charged with rape worked at West Creek Middle

He started at WCMS teaching eighth-grade reading. On Jan. 17, 2011, he transferred to sixth-grade language arts, where he taught until he resigned, citing a change of career that did not involve teaching, according to school district records.

But according to previous reports, Hester worked as an instructional coach at Hattie Cotton STEM Magnet Elementary School from September 2014 until the investigation in Montgomery County in May of 2015. He was first placed on administrative leave and then terminated from Metro Schools in Nashville.