Former Arapahoe High teacher sentenced to five years in jail

Ian Ahern pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor

David Gilbert
dgilbert@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Posted 2/19/20

Former Arapahoe High School teacher Ian Ahern was sentenced to five years in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Ahern, 42, pleaded guilty on Jan. 24, nearly a …

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Former Arapahoe High teacher sentenced to five years in jail

Ian Ahern pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor

Posted

Former Arapahoe High School teacher Ian Ahern was sentenced to five years in jail after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

Ahern, 42, pleaded guilty on Jan. 24, nearly a year to the day since his 2019 arrest stemming from incidents that occurred in 2014. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped two charges of sex assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.

Ahern was sentenced to five years in jail, according to court records, and will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

Ahern emotionally manipulated a 17-year-old student who came to him for support after the 2013 murder of Arapahoe High School student Claire Davis, according to an affidavit.

Ahern groomed the student for months, according to the affidavit, and groped and forced himself on the student on several occasions.

The case came to light in early 2019, after the former student told her boyfriend that she was still tormented by what happened and was afraid Ahern would abuse other girls. The boyfriend then made an anonymous report through Safe2Tell.

Ahern previously pleaded guilty in September, but his plea was invalidated by a state Supreme Court decision that nullified sentences including both jail terms and probation.

ian ahern, arapahoe high school, littleton public schools, littleton colorado, david gilbert

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