A former high school student in Illinois claims she manipulated a teacher into thinking he was going to die from cancer before they started a sexual relationship, testifying that she “took advantage” of his unfortunate diagnosis.
The former student at North Boone High School in Poplar Grove testified Tuesday in a Winnebago County courtroom that her actions — and not those of former science teacher and soccer coach Scott Brady — led to their sexual relationship between December 2015 and December 2016, the Rockford Register Star reports.
“I convinced him he was going to die,” the 20-year-old woman testified. “It was more manipulation than anything. On my part. I took advantage of what I knew.”
News outlets aren’t identifying the former student because of the nature of the allegations.
The ex-student said she met Brady — who was married at the time — during her sophomore year. She liked both soccer and science and began texting Brady, prompting him to tell her to stop, she testified.
“He told me not to do that,” she testified. “That was inappropriate.”
The pair then started texting and communicating more after the teen broke up with her boyfriend. The messages took a racy turn, including one from July 2016 in which Brady suggested that they paint their naked bodies.
“How ‘bout we go naked with red, white and blue body paint?” Brady wrote.
In a message from August 2016, Brady allegedly told the teen he planned to marry her — several months after his wife of 22 years, Michelle Brady, found a note from the girl in March 2016, leading Brady to tell her that he wanted a separation.
The couple ended up divorcing in February 2017, according to the paper.
“I plan to marry you,” Brady wrote. “After that I plan to show you what it’s like to live like a princess.”
The former student, now 20, testified that she had sex with Brady at least twice. Assistant State’s Attorney Steven Getty, meanwhile, said she previously told a Boone County sheriff’s detective in November 2016 that they had sex at least six times between July and October 2016.
“I was ambushed by them and forced to say something,” she testified.
Brady’s defense attorneys argue that prosecutors have the timeline of their relationship wrong. They claim the girl was of legal age when they had sex and no crime was committed because she wasn’t a student of his at the time.
Brady, who also testified Tuesday, denied having sex with the girl until after she moved in with him on Dec. 15, 2016 — sometime after the girl’s father had “disowned her,” he told the courtroom. He also resigned from the high school that month.
“She came to me,” Brady testified. “I told her she was welcome. I had a spare bedroom.“
At the time, Brady testified that he had recently learned he had a mass on his testicle and had been diagnosed with skin cancer. He denied having sex with the girl during the alleged time span partly due to his health issues, WTVO reports.
“I have a testicular mass that was undiagnosed at the time,” Brady testified. “It’s since been diagnosed, but it was causing me to lose a tremendous amount of weight. I was shaking all the time. For the first time in my life, I started called off work, now and then, which is something I do not tend to do.”
Court records cited by the newspaper indicate that the girl was 17 and 18 years old during the alleged encounters. While the age of consent in Illinois is 17, Brady was charged due to his position of authority over the girl.
But Brady’s attorney, Elder Granger III, claims that’s simply not the case, as the girl was actually taking advanced classes at Rock Valley College and wasn’t attending North Boone High School. She did assist Brady with the boys’ soccer team, working as the team’s manager, but she was not a part of Brady’s science class, Granger argued.
The girl attended the college as part of a program called Running Start during her junior and senior years, allowing her to earn her high school diploma and associate’s degree simultaneously, according to the Rockford Register Star.
Brady, who faces between three years and life in prison if convicted of criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, is due to return to court for closing arguments Thursday afternoon.
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