PINAL COUNTY, Ariz. — The former Pinal County teacher arrested in 2018 for having an inappropriate relationship with an underage student has been recently placed on supervised probation.
Andrew Hensley, 43, pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of child abuse with a sexual motivation, a Class 4 felony.
Hensley was sentenced last month in Pinal County Superior Court to 15 years of supervised probation for each term, according to the Pinal County Attorney's Office.
PCAO said the decision as to whether Hensley will need to register as a sex offender has been deferred by the court until testing and assessments can be done.
Hensley had been a fire science instructor at the Central Arizona Valley Institute of Technology in Coolidge.
In the summer of 2018, officials began investigating Hensley after allegations surfaced that he had been having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student.
The student's parents started to become concerned about the student's relationship with Hensley after finding out he had reportedly bought their child jewelry and a cell phone, according to Arizona Board of Education records.
Hensley resigned from CAVIT in July 2018 and was arrested by U.S. marshals in North Carolina a couple of months later. State records indicate Hensley surrendered his teaching certificate.
School officials reported finding sex toys in Hensley's former office, according to the sheriff's office.
The case took an unusual twist after the fire science teacher who replaced Hensley at CAVIT was arrested for similar offenses at around the same time.
Brian Sharp had only been teaching at CAVIT for a couple of months when he was arrested for sexually abusing a minor, according to PinalCentral. Sharp took a plea deal and is currently serving time in the Arizona Department of Corrections.
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