Photo by Robert A. DeFrank Tiffany Cordes, a former Union Local School District teacher, is sentenced to 18 months in prison Friday for gross sexual imposition as a result of inappropriate conduct with a student.

A former Union Local School District teacher was sentenced to 18 months in prison Friday for inappropriate conduct with a student.

Tiffany Ann Cordes, 27, of Cadiz appeared Friday before Belmont County Common Pleas Judge Frank Fregiato and heard her sentence for gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony. She was classified as a Tier 1 sex offender, and her teaching license was revoked for life.

The charge stemmed from a relationship between Cordes and a male student who was 18 years old at the time. According to the Belmont County Prosecutor’s Office, Cordes was charged based on the fact that she was in a position of authority over the student, rather than on his age.

The issue came to light when another student informed his parent of the inappropriate relationship. The parent then contacted the school district administration, which contacted law enforcement.

Cordes apologized in court on Friday.

“I would like to say I’m sorry to my victim and his family. I know I caused harm,” Cordes said. “I know I brought shame to my district and I put them under a bad light, and I made the community question the teachers.”

Fregiato said nothing less than the maximum sentence was appropriate, due to the violation of trust involved.

“Our students are our most precious resources. Every single day we trust that our school teachers make certain that our students are well-educated and appropriately developed into fine, respectable citizens,” Fregiato said. “In Belmont County, we truly have great teachers, there’s no doubt about it, and the vast majority of our teachers do exactly the correct thing for society and for their and our students, so it’s an incredible shame that we have one or two teachers who cast a shadow upon all of our other fantastic teachers, putting them all, unfortunately — and quite frankly, unfairly — in a bad light.”

Fregiato reviewed the facts of the case, based on Bethesda Police Department reports. Fregiato said the events that led to the charge against Cordes included the purchase of a 12-pack of beer in Bethesda.

“They split the beer evenly and went driving around while drinking the beer,” Fregiato said of Cordes and the student, adding that the sexual activity followed. “This court has an obligation, an extremely serious obligation, to send a message to those very few teachers who somehow consider this behavior acceptable. In Belmont County, Ohio, you go to prison for this type of activity with our students.”

Belmont County Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Vavra said his office approves of the sentence.

“We believe it was an appropriate resolution,” he said.