Former NH teacher avoids jail on nude photo charge

DERRY, N.H. — A former high school teacher won’t be going to jail after pleading guilty Monday to a charge she e-mailed nude photographs of herself to a 15-year-old student at Londonderry High School.

"I am truly sorry for my actions and poor judgment," Melinda Dennehy said in court after the judge agreed to her negotiated plea to a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure. She originally faced a felony count.

"I wish the student and his family well," she added.

Dennehy, 41, of Hampstead, could have faced up to seven years in prison if she had gone to trial on the felony. As part of her plea agreement, Dennehy’s one-year jail sentence was suspended for two years on condition she remain on good behavior and have no contact with the teen or his family, or go to the school. She resigned three weeks after she was charged in March.
Neither the teen nor his family were in court. Prosecutor Kevin Coyle told Derry District Court Judge John Coughlin that family supported the plea agreement "and want to put this incident behind them."

Herald boston