Ex-teacher accepts deal, pleads guilty
Rodenburg reportedly took underage female across state lines
The former math teacher at Gila Ridge High School accused of taking an underage female across state lines appeared out of custody in Yuma County Superior Court on Wednesday for a change of plea hearing.
With his attorney, Michael Donovan, standing by his side, John Dirk Rodenburg pleaded guilty to one amended count of custodial interference with sexual motivation, as per the plea deal offered to him by the prosecution.
In return for his guilty plea, one count of kidnapping, one count of custodial interference and one count of harmful items to a minor were dismissed.
Superior Court Judge David Haws talked Rodenburg through the change of plea, making sure he understood what was happening. Haws also informed him that he could receive a prison sentence ranging from two years to eight years and nine months, with the presumptive sentence being 3 1/2 years if convicted.
The plea agreement also stipulates that Rodenburg be sentenced to five years of probation. As a condition of that probation, the court has the discretion to order that he register as a sex offender. Another condition is that he could be sentenced to serve up to a year in the Yuma County jail.
Rodenburg must also pay restitution and have no contact with the victim in any way, including by phone, in person, email, text message, by letter, a third-party, or doing anything else that boils down to getting in touch with them. Doing so, Haws warned, could result in a new charge.
Once Haws had finished reviewing the terms of the plea agreement with Rodenburg, Donovan called the court’s attention to a signed letter from the Washington County Attorney’s Office in Saint George, Utah, indicating it wouldn’t prosecute his client for any crimes that may have occurred there based on his guilty plea in the plea agreement.
Rodenburg is scheduled to be sentenced at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 6.
According to Yuma police, Rodenburg took an underage female, without the consent of her parents, across state lines to Utah in November 2016 in for the purpose of having sex with her.
As part of his plea agreement, Rodenburg had to admit that he convinced the victim to tell her parents that she was spending that weekend with one of her friends.
Yuma police did not release information as to whether the female was a student at the school where he taught.
According to the Gila Ridge High School website, Rodenburg was in his first season as the cross-country coach. He had been at the school for six years and was also a math teacher.
Although his name no longer appears on the website, Rodenburg had also been listed as the assistant athletic director during the winter sports season.