Guilty plea, ordered to take psychological evaluation, but not necessarily grounds for dismissal.
Nov 16, 2007 - Steven Weidenbach, 27, a Fife High School teacher, pleaded not guilty to seven misdemeanor counts based on text messages and phone calls prosecutors say he sent to two current and three former Fife High students, all females.
He is charged with two counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and five counts of telephone harassment.
He was arrested in October after parents of one student complained to a school resource officer that their daughter had received inappropriate text messages from a teacher.. He's on administrative leave. The teacher told authorities his messages were misinterpreted and he never meant them to be sexual. Weidenbach is married and has one child.
The News Tribune obtained Fife police’s investigative report on Weidenbach through a public records request. The accusations are included in the story. Sample:
17-year-old current student said Weidenbach asked her in a text message who she would take to a desert island if stranded. She replied she would take her best friend, a female. He text-messaged back asking if she wanted to stay celibate. He also asked her what was the “most scandalous” thing she had ever done.A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Jan. 29.
PLEA & SENTENCING Apr 1 - Weidenbach pleaded guilty to sending sexually suggestive text messages to a former student. Six other charges against business teacher Steven Weidenbach were dropped in a plea agreement. He did not admit guilt, and entered the plea because he believed a jury would find him guilty, court records say. [TT - that would be a no contest or nolo contendere plea.]
Weidenbach received a two-year deferred sentence and must undergo a psychological evaluation. If he is not found guilty of a crime in the next two years, his conviction will be dismissed.
RESIGNATION October 28 - The Fife School Board voted unanimously to accept the resignation of business teacher Steven Weidenbach Monday night. The school board accepted the resignation after the Fife School District completed its own investigation of accusations against Weidenbach. Fife pleaded guilty in March.Jeff Short, deputy superintendent for the Fife School District, said Weidenbach will remain on paid administrative leave while the district completes its own investigation. He said Weidenbach’s guilty plea is “not necessarily” grounds for dismissal, since he pleaded guilty only to harassing a former student. The former student said Weidenbach asked her who she’d slept with, what teacher she would want to spend time with and what the “most scandalous” thing she’d ever done was. The former student said Weidenbach, who lived near her, also said, “Too bad they put the fence up in your backyard, can’t see you in the hot tub anymore,” police records say.
She said she never felt threatened by the comments, “maybe just a little weirded out,” police records say.
Weidenbach’s resignation is effective at the end of the current semester, Jan. 23, 2009. He has been on paid administrative leave since he was arrested Oct. 5, 2007.
