Teacher gets 30 days in jail for sexual battery of SC student. Now the teen is suing
A South Carolina chorus teacher pleaded guilty to sexual battery of a student Tuesday, and a judge sentenced him to 30 days in jail, according to reports.
The same day, the victim in the case sued the Charleston County School District, court records show. The lawsuit says Joshua Radecke was the student’s teacher at R.B. Stall High School in North Charleston when he forced her to perform sexual acts on him.
“I will spend the rest of my living days earning your faith and earning your trust back,” Radecke said during his sentencing, according to WCSC.
Thirty days in jail was the maximum sentence the judge could give him under South Carolina law.
Radecke surrendered his teaching license, WCSC reported.
The school district told WCIV that it had not yet been served with the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says Radecke coerced the student into “sexual acts” in the chorus class trailer at the school, during a field trip, in his car and in local hotels during school hours.
“Each time Plaintiff would dismiss Radecke’s advances and requests to perform sexual acts on him, Radecke would remind Plaintiff that she needed him to support her and take her to auditions in order to receive scholarships for college,” the lawsuit says.
The student eventually told her father about the teacher’s actions, and the district suspended Radecke in late 2018. He was charged with “sexual battery with a student 18 years of age or older where there is direct supervisory authority, no aggravated force or coercion,” records show.
Radecke worked for the district for six years, according to The State newspaper. The school website said “Radecke was married and had a child,” the newspaper reported after the arrest.
