Lawrence, KANSAS

Few stories make your teeth grate like this one does.

ARREST reported Mar 21, 2007-
Meredith Kane, 24, Lawrence High School teacher, was arrested for inappropriate sexual conduct with a 15-year-old student.

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UPDATE Apr 10 - Kane made a brief court appearance and now faces a preliminary hearing on June 7. She has been suspended with pay. The school board will meet on April 20 to consider whether to cut off pay for the teacher, who is free on $15,000 bond. Board members also voted to not renew her contract for next year.

Preliminary hearing scheduled for June 7.

UPDATE June 7 - Kane waived her right to a preliminary hearing. A arraignment is scheduled for June 19.

CONTINUANCE June 19 - Kane's attorney asked for a continuance. The next court appearance is July 2. Newspaper reports that a plea agreement is close.

GUILTY PLEA - July 2 - Kane pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a student. From August to mid-March. Another count of aggravated indecent liberties and two counts of criminal sodomy were dismissed. She will be sentenced Oct 12.

ARRESTED AGAIN August 27 - Kane was arrested again for violating a no-contact order that was part of her March release.

BOND REVOKED August 28 - A judge revoked the bond for Meredith Kane, ruling that she must remain in jail until her sentencing October 29. The arrest came after family friends of the now-16-year-old boy saw him getting into a car with Kane. When questioned, he said he had been with her five times since her guilty plea. She faces a misdeameanor charge for violating a protective order. Trial on that charge is October 2.

Oct 29 -From the Lawrence Journal World & News:

A former Lawrence teacher convicted of having sex with a male student has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which inhibited her judgment, a psychologist testified Monday afternoon.

The victim, who now is 16, also suffers from the disorder, according to testimony in Douglas County District Court during a sentencing hearing for Meredith L. Kane, 24. The hearing will continue Dec. 17.

Psychologist Bruce Cappo said Kane saw herself as someone who could help the student, who was having problems himself. It led to a consensual sexual relationship that began in August 2006 and lasted until it was discovered by officials in March.

Dec 18 - In court testimony, the victim asked that Kane be given no jail time.

It was agreed by both of us. Nothing was forced,” the 16-year-old boy said about the relationship.

During testimony in Douglas County District Court, the boy also said he would have no contact with Meredith L. Kane, 24, if she were placed on probation, rather than given a prison term.

According to therapists who have testified, both Kane and the victim have been diagnosed with and undergone treatment for bipolar disorder, which affected their judgment about the relationship and caused them to lie about the nature of it.

Kane’s therapist, Dennis Detweiler, testified she was making progress in recent sessions. He said it would set her back if she would be sent to prison.“I see her as low risk to offend,” Detweiler said. He also outlined an aggressive treatment strategy that would include Kane taking medication, having no contact with minors on her own and, possibly, home monitoring through a bonding company.

Once Kane was jailed again for having contact with the boy, Detweiler ceased to treat her, but he recently picked it up again.

“My concern for Meredith is and always has been her ongoing development of adult-appropriated skills,” he said.

Douglas County District Judge Stephen Six will decide on the sentencing at the conclusion of testimony.

SENTENCED Dec 19 - Despite the psychobabble, Kane was sentenced to 4 years and 11 months in prison and registration as a sex offender.

Douglas County District Judge Stephen Six this afternoon denied a motion by the attorney of Meredith L. Kane, 24, for probation. "In a fiduciary position as a teacher, I find it extremely, injurious to his health and the health of any teenager in that situation," Six said.

Jan 1, 2008 - . Prosecutors filed to drop the misdemeanor charge of one count of violation of a protective order filed after Kane continued seeing the boy after her guilty plea in July. Prosecutors filed the misdemeanor so Douglas County District Judge Stephen Six would revoke her bond and jail her until sentencing.