Former Ankeny teacher sentenced to prison for sexually exploiting student

DES MOINES, Iowa — A former Ankeny teacher was sentenced to prison on Thursday for sexually exploiting a student.
In late January 2024, an investigation began into 35-year-old Rachel Elizabeth Whiteside, a former Ankeny middle school teacher and softball coach, when the Ankeny Police Department was notified by the school district about a teacher having an inappropriate relationship with a former student. According to the Polk County Attorney's Office, the victim reported that while she was a student at an Ankeny middle school in 2015, Whiteside began grooming and sexually assaulting her, and that the abuse spanned seven years.
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Roughly a month after the APD received the tip, Whiteside was arrested and charged with multiple felonies, including four counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee. The attorney's office said Whiteside pled guilty to the four counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee charge.
On Thursday, a Polk County Judge sentenced Whiteside to consecutive five-year sentences for each charge, meaning she will serve the sentences one after the other for up to 20 years in prison. Whiteside will also be supervised by the Department of Corrections for 10 years and will be listed on the sex offender registry.
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