Former Teacher Pleads Guilty To Sex Offenses
Faces Up To Life In Prison
Greensboro, N.C. – A former Montgomery County high school guidance counselor pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement today, announced United States Attorney Ripley Rand.
Shawn Ira Day, 29, formerly of Troy, North Carolina, entered a plea of guilty to one count of coercion and enticement, an offense punishable by 10 years to life in prison. Day pleaded guilty to the charge, which alleges that he used cell phone text messages to persuade, induce, coerce, and entice a minor student to engage in sexual activity. Day was a guidance counselor, assistant varsity football coach, and girls' soccer coach at West Montgomery High School.
“Schools are places where children should be safe and free to learn and to pursue their dreams. It is a priority of the United States Department of Justice, a priority of this United States Attorney's Office, and a personal priority of mine to protect children from the kind of exploitation involved in this case,” said U.S. Attorney Rand. “We intend to make sure that those who exploit children, especially those who abuse positions of trust in exploiting children, are punished accordingly.”
Day will be sentenced on June 14, 2012, before United States District Judge William L. Osteen, Jr. The investigation in this case was conducted by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anand P. Ramaswamy.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov
