HOT SPRINGS, S.D. -- A former teacher with the Yellow Medicine East School District has pleaded guilty in South Dakota to felony sexual contact with a person under the age of 16, and to eight counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor.
George Krenz, 31, faces up to 23 years in prison and $46,000 in fines, according to news reports in the Hot Springs Star of Hot Springs, S.D., and The Associated Press in South Dakota. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, but Krenz could be sentenced for up to one year in prison on each of the charges for furnishing alcohol.
He entered his plea Friday as part of plea agreement.
In exchange for this plea, the state dropped four charges of rape.
Krenz served as a social studies instructor in the Yellow Medicine East High School in Granite Falls during the 2001-02 school year. In an interview in June after the charges were filed, Krenz was described by Dwayne Strand, YME superintendent, as well-liked by students and faculty.
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The superintendent added that no allegations of wrongdoing by Krenz had been raised in the district.
Authorities in Fall River County, S.D., originally filed four charges against Krenz for allegedly furnishing alcohol to a minor at a party he hosted for some of his students, according to a Hot Springs Star news report. The newspaper reported that further investigation of the alleged incident by the Fall River County Sheriff's Office led to allegations that there had been one other drinking incident and possible sexual contact between Krenz and up to three different girls. He is accused of having furnished alcohol to six different students.
Krenz resigned his teaching position in Hot Springs when the additional charges were filed, the newspaper stated.
A native of Sleepy Eye, Krenz had held teaching positions at five different schools before joining the Hot Springs, S.D., school district as a social studies teacher in 2006. He started his teaching career with Murray County Central School in Slayton.
He also held positions with Cedar Mountain Public Schools in Morgan, Valley City Junior-Senior High School in Valley City, N.D., and the Pine Ridge School District in South Dakota before accepting the position in Hot Springs.
