Oklahoma State Police say a former mood coach has been arrested and charged with raping a female student.
The cheer coach of an Oklahoma school district manipulated and controlled a student into engaging in sexual acts with her beginning when the student was 16, police say.
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Jennifer Hawkins, the former cheer coach for Moore Public Schools, was charged with second-degree rape and sexual battery following the events of a 5-year “sexual relationship,” according to court records filed by the Oklahoma City Police Department on Monday, March 6.
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Hawkins, 45, was “immediately fired” when district officials learned of the situation, a Moore Public Schools spokesperson said in a statement to KOKH.
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The victim, who is now 21, said he initially dated Hawkins’ daughter, but the cheer coach “began prompting him for a sexual relationship,” according to his testimony.
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Beginning when the victim was a sophomore in high school, he would get picked up by Hawkins during his lunch break and driven to her Oklahoma City house, court records state. They engaged in sexual acts at Hawkins’ home, and the victim estimates he had more than 300 sexual encounters with the coach, police said.
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Hawkins admitted to the encounters, noting she had “no clue” how many times they engaged in sex acts, according to police.
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“Jennifer talked about (the victim’s) age at the time they became sexual (16 years of age) and how their relationship would seem odd or inappropriate to other people,” police said.
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The encounters continued through 2022, when the victim was an adult, court records show. He lived with Hawkins and her family for around two years until October, she told police.
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He eventually told Hawkins he did not “want a romantic relationship” with her and they cut ties, according to the court records.
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“(The victim) described Jennifer as being very manipulative and controlling,” police said.
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Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Austin told KFOR the victim “didn’t have a normal school experience” because of Hawkins, who was arrested Wednesday morning.
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“The control that she can have over him and the level of manipulation to take away that high school experience or that childhood for him and immediately thrust him into a secret relationship that he had to keep secret, not only from his family but since he was living in her home with her daughter (he) has to keep that secret also,” Austin told KFOR.
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The school district said in its statement to KOKH it “will continue to assist law enforcement in their investigation.”
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