And over the course of an illicit, months-long relationship during the 2015-2016 school year in Cedar Rapids, she admits, the pair had sex “hundreds of times.”
Mary Beth Haglin was charged in July with sexual exploitation by a teacher.
But now, Haglin claims that not only is she innocent of committing any crime, she’s actually the victim in the relationship.
Haglin appeared on the “Dr. Phil” show this week and accused the student of hatching an elaborate plan of romantic seduction, then threatening to “burn her life down” if she ended the relationship.
In recent months, Haglin claims, she’s been fired from her job and forced to work as a stripper using the nom de stage “Bambi.”
“The student twisted my brain into accepting this relationship,” she told Dr. Phil McGraw. “He did so with such intelligence and such an elevated vocabulary that I was completely duped by the whole facade.”
“Many people see him as the victim and me as the perpetrator,” she added. “From a psychological standpoint and from every other standpoint, I feel like I am the victim.
“He did burn my life to the ground.”
Haglin’s trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 14, but she has requested that it be relocated due to the publicity surrounding the case, according to the Associated Press.
The Cedar Rapids Community School District has banned Haglin from employment in the district, but she continued to work as an elementary school substitute teacher near the end of the last school year “because of a miscommunication,” the AP reported.
A spokesperson said the district formally removed Haglin from its “substitute central system” on June 14.
The former substitute teacher told “Inside Edition” in September that her tryst with her student started when he began writing flirtatious messages on Post-it notes that he left on her desk on his way out of class at Washington High School. The student began asking her to get lunch or coffee, she said on “Dr. Phil”; she initially resisted his overtures, she said, but the pair began texting and chatting on Facebook in September 2015.
At the time, she was 23 and the student was 17.
“Trust me, it’s not difficult to be a caring boyfriend,” the student texted Haglin, according to a message revealed by the show. “Especially to someone as magnificent as you.”
Haglin told “Inside Edition” the student even had pet names for his teacher, including “my empress” and “Mrs. Robinson,” a reference to Anne Bancroft’s classic movie role as an older woman who embarks upon an affair with a younger man in “The Graduate” movie.
Over time, Haglin said, the teen’s romantic gestures softened her resolve, and a sexual relationship began last October.
She was attracted to him, she told McGraw, because of “his mind,” which she described as more mature than his age.
“I was completely head over heels,” she told “Inside Edition.”
She said she met the teen nearly every day to have sex in her car, which she parked in a public park. They also visited his parents’ homes, she told “Dr. Phil.”
“We met several times a week, not every time was just to have sex,” she said. “There were times we would sit and talk. I thought in my mind this was some sort of real relationship.”
In Iowa, teachers are prohibited from sexual contact with students until 30 days after graduation, even if the student is at least 18, according to the Des Moines Register.
As their relationship progressed, Haglin said, she eventually sent the student naked pictures, which he shared with other teenagers. Haglin told McGraw that she never expected the student to share the images.
Mary Beth Haglin. (“Dr. Phil”)
“You have got to be dumber than a box of rocks to share naked pictures with a 17-year-old boy,” the talk-show host said.
“He knew that I was vulnerable,” Haglin responded.
The relationship eventually unraveled when the teacher and student were spotted by other students in a car in June. One witnesses took video of the couple and posted it on Twitter, the Des Moines Register reported.
Haglin told McGraw that when the student began telling his classmates that he was carrying on an inappropriate relationship with her, she tried to break up with him.
At that point, she said, he threatened to tell school officials about the relationship and “light a match and burn down [her] life.”
Haglin said she was too scared to end the relationship, but a parent eventually convinced her to confess and shared that confession with school officials, who launched an investigation.
According to the Des Moines Register, Washington High School’s veteran principal, Ralph Plagman, “was asked to resign after the district determined he had participated in an ineffective initial investigation into accusations about Haglin’s conduct.”
The Gazette of Cedar Rapids reported that “though Plagman and other administrators investigated rumors of Haglin’s inappropriate relationship in February and again in May, no one in the district ever contacted police, district officials have said.”
Haglin told the Gazette that the district wanted to keep her conduct “hush-hush.”
“The Cedar Rapids Community School District has concluded its investigation into the events related to Mary Beth Haglin’s inappropriate relationship with a student during the spring 2016 semester at Washington High School,” a district statement said. “Under Iowa’s public records laws, the District is required to keep its investigation, and certain student information and personnel information confidential.”
Unable to find a teaching job and needing income, Haglin told “Dr. Phil” that she has been forced to take a job as a stripper.
“You could wind up having to register as a sex offender for probably 10 years,” McGraw told her. “You need to seriously step back and assess all of the bad decisions that have snowballed here because you are very young and you can so turn this around.”
“This does not have to ruin your life,” he added, before promising to help her find a counselor and a different job.
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
She was the adult. She should have shut it down before it had a chance to begin. Sorry kiddo, I'm your teacher stop leaving notes on my desk or I'm telling your parents & my boss.
This is one reason I think there should be age requirements for teaching.
Heck, at 23, she could very easily known this 17 year old for years through siblings.
Not saying she did, just that it's possible.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
A 23 year old in a kindergarten class is an old woman.
A 23 year old in a 11th grade class is a fantasy.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
A 23 year old in a kindergarten class is an old woman.
A 23 year old in a 11th grade class is a fantasy.
Exactly! Plus I don't think a new teacher is equipped to keep control of an older class. I think all teachers should have to start out with younger & move their way up.
She was a substitute teacher, so not part of the full time staff. Probably covering for a medical leave. The school district erred seriously giving her the temp position.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
And while I agree a line was crossed, it seems like it's been blown up out of proportion.
I mean, he wasn't some innocent 13 year old.
Yes, there should be consequences for these actions.
But for BOTH of them.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
A 23 year old in a kindergarten class is an old woman.
A 23 year old in a 11th grade class is a fantasy.
Exactly! Plus I don't think a new teacher is equipped to keep control of an older class. I think all teachers should have to start out with younger & move their way up.
That isn't realistic though. Teaching small children requires an entirely different skill set than teaching middle schoolers or teens. Not to mention an different subject matter to master. It would add years to a teacher's schooling.
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Out of all the lies I have told, "just kidding" is my favorite !
A 23 year old in a kindergarten class is an old woman.
A 23 year old in a 11th grade class is a fantasy.
Exactly! Plus I don't think a new teacher is equipped to keep control of an older class. I think all teachers should have to start out with younger & move their way up.
That isn't realistic though. Teaching small children requires an entirely different skill set than teaching middle schoolers or teens. Not to mention an different subject matter to master. It would add years to a teacher's schooling.
Ok peeps, she is only a substitute, she has the quals but not the FT job. Letter doesn't say what her special qual is for which grade.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
Depends on the requirements, most subs just make sure everyone gets through the day in one piece.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
A lot of schools don't even require that subs are teachers of any kind. Anyone can be a sub - you don't even need a degree. It's so difficult to find enough subs anyone who can pass a background check can do it in some districts. Other districts are super picky about their subs and only choose from a certain preselected pool of people.
I wonder which type of district this happened in.
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Out of all the lies I have told, "just kidding" is my favorite !
She's an adult, therefore she should be the responsible one.
A quick Google search reveals that the age of consent is 16 in Iowa, so at 17 he was legal.
The "sex with a student" issue can be a problem. But it's the teacher's responsibility to disengage if it even remotely looks like any interaction is going that way. It's not the responsibility of the student.
She should take responsibility for her choices and her actions. Her naked pictures didn't magically appear on her phone and send themselves to him.
I think she has mental illness. She acts like she is 12. Her parents had written a really good response to her. She had a career and education and she blew up her own life with her stupid choices. If she can't understand that teachers should not sleep with students, then her mind doenst work right.