ORLANDO, Fla. – A local teacher is heading to prison after negotiating a plea deal for having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student.
Ethan Hickey, 25, was a chemistry teacher at Edgewater High School in College Park. He was also the head track coach. He will now have to register as a sex offender.
[RELATED: Teacher accused of sex with student bonds out of jail]
On Wednesday, Hickey and his attorney entered a plea to one count of lewd and lascivious battery. The deal dropped two more charges of lewd and lascivious battery.
A judge sentenced Hickey to three years of prison followed by two years of probation. Because it is a sex crime, Hickey will have to register as a sex offender permanently.
His attorney, Andrew Moses, told News 6, "Mr. Hickey thought it was in the best interest to enter a plea deal for himself as well as his family and to put it behind him."
Hickey had been at the center of a criminal investigation since late April, when a ninth-grade student came forward claiming she had been having a sexual relationship with her teacher for at least three months.
The student said it occurred 10 to15 times between January and April. A report said Hickey was arrested after the victim handed over her phone with evidence of their relationship. News 6 was there May 1 when he bonded out of the Orange County Jail.
Hickey was engaged to be married this year and was relieved of his duties pending the outcome of an internal investigation.?
Hickey could have seen more than 15 years of prison time for the felony charges. Several other original charges of sexual battery and child abuse were never filed.