Ex-teacher Arin Hankerd pleads no contest, faces up to 180 years in prison

The former Volusia County teacher accused of having oral sex with a student and fondling another student at a different high school pleaded no contest to the charges on Wednesday and will face up to 180 years in prison.

Arin Hankerd, 43, of Ormond Beach, pleaded no contest to charges involving accusations he inappropriately touched a 15-year-old student when he was a teacher at Atlantic High School earlier this year.

Hankerd also entered a no contest plea to a charge of unlawful sexual activity with a minor involving a former student. That charge and a related charge involves a then-17-year-old female student Hankerd met in 2019 when he was a physical education teacher at Mainland High School.

Hankerd's no contest plea was an open plea, so there is no agreement with prosecutors on any prison time or range of prison time.

Hankerd will face up to 180 years in prison when he is sentenced. He will face a minimum sentence of just over 18 years in prison, according to state sentencing guidelines.

Circuit Judge Karen Foxman set sentencing for Jan. 25 at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach.

Hankerd's defense attorney, John Selden, said after the hearing that he would present mitigation at sentencing. That mitigation would include that Hankerd entered an open plea which avoids the stress on the victims of having to be deposed or testify at a trial.

Hankerd's initial arrest was based on accusations he had inappropriate and lewd contact with an Atlantic High School student whom he would meet in his portable classroom or in a storage room in the gym, according to documents.

Hankerd has been held at the Volusia County Branch Jail since May 24 when Foxman ruled he was a danger to the community. The judge said Hankerd had shown a pattern of "using his position of authority to prey on vulnerable victims."

Hankerd stood in court on Wednesday with his hands cuffed and wearing an orange jail jumpsuit.

Foxman asked Assistant State Attorney Erica Kane on Wednesday to read the "factual basis," a summary of the accusations against Hankerd. As Kane read, Hankerd shook his head on a couple of occasions.

The judge asked Hankerd routine questions made of defendants entering a plea, including if he had ever been diagnosed with a mental illness.

Hankerd said he had been diagnosed with "manic bipolar disorder."

The judge asked him if he was being treated for that and Hankerd said he was unable to because he was incarcerated.

Hankerd said he was not taking any medication.

The judge asked him if there was anything about the diagnosis that interfered with his ability to understand the consequences of his decision.

"No, your honor," Hankerd said.

Foxman also read the charges in the plea agreement, totaling up the possible prison time which quickly exceeded 100 years and continued to climb.

Foxman asked Hankerd several times if he understood his exposure. He said he did.

Hankerd plead no contest to the following charges:

• Two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a person 12 or older but younger than 16. Each is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

• Traveling to meet a minor against student by authority figure, also a first-degree felony.

• Using a computer for lewd and lascivious exhibition by a person 18 years or older against student by an authority figure, also first-degree felony.

• Offense against a student by authority figure, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

• Unlawful sexual activity with a minor, against a student by an authority figure, a first-degree felony.

• Offense against students by authority figure, a second-degree felony.

Atlantic High School case

According to Port Orange police detectives, Hankerd and the 15-year-old girl met at Atlantic High School in August during a physical education class. Four months later, around December, they started friendly conversations.

Hankerd would occasionally buy the teen lunch and at one point the girl thanked Hankerd saying “Thank you, I love you,” investigators said. Hankerd told the student that he also loved her, starting an inappropriate relationship with the girl, according to his charging affidavit.

In January, the teen added Hankerd to her Instagram account and that’s where the conversations gradually turned sexual in nature, police said.

The student told police that by the end of January she started coming to school early so she could meet with Hankerd at a portable classroom. That’s when Hankerd touched the student inappropriately, having the student sit on his lap and touch him, police said.

The encounters continued at the gym's storage rooms where they kissed and Hankerd touched her under her clothes, the arrest report states. Communication on Instagram got more sexual with Hankerd sending a video of himself in the shower, police said.

The teen told detectives she and Hankerd did not have sexual intercourse, the charging document detailed.

Mainland High School case

The girl was a sophomore at Mainland High School when “Coach Hankerd” saw her in the gym with a Victoria’s Secret bag and told her she was too young to be “portraying” that bag, according to an affidavit. The student said Hankerd followed that with “flirty looks” throughout the year.

In the summer of her junior year, she added Hankerd to her Facebook. At first, their conversations were platonic, but Hankerd started asking her for photos to see what she was wearing, which she said she took as "friendly." They messaged each other their ages, as well — she was 17 at the time and Hankerd was 39.

Hankerd spoke about her tan lines and complimented her bikini. The messaging continued and they started sending each other photos of themselves in their underwear.

The girl said that one night between Aug. 11, 2019, and Aug. 30, 2019, she went to Hankerd’s residence on Baymeadow Court in a gated community in Ormond Beach.

She said Hankerd inappropriately touched her and had her perform oral sex on him.

Afterward, Hankerd told her how special she was. She left because she felt uncomfortable, according to documents.

The woman, who is now in the military, contacted police to say that Hankerd had messaged her in August — the same month he met the 15-year-old at Atlantic High School.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ex-Atlantic, Mainland teacher Arin Hankerd pleads no contest