Former Center Point teacher receives deferred judgment for enticing student

CEDAR RAPIDS — A 14-year-old girl said Tuesday she never thought something like this would happen to her — like a television movie about a teacher enticing a student into sexual contact.

The girl, in a victim impact statement read on her behalf in court, said she blamed herself, questioning if there was something she could have done, but she was “scared to reach out.”

She said it “absolutely destroyed” her when others found out what Adam Hildebrandt, her former Center Point-Urbana Middle School teacher, did to her when she was 13 during the 2020-2021 school year. He was her homeroom, science and language arts teacher.

Her classmates joked about it and still do. She was told she was “stupid for letting it happen” and blamed her for tarnishing an “innocent man,” the girl said in her statement read by Anastasia Basquin, the chief victim liaison and community outreach specialist with the Linn County Attorney’s Office.

“It played a huge role in destroying my mental health,” the teen, who didn’t attend the hearing, wrote.

Her mother, who was at the hearing, in a statement also read by Basquin, said her daughter was having problems that year and didn’t tell her what was happening with the teacher. Hildebrandt took advantage of her daughter — “took her innocence.”

The mother said she has lost trust in the school system and worried about how to prevent this from happening again. She wrote that she questions everything she does now as a parent.

If Hildebrandt hadn’t been caught, she thinks the inappropriate touching and sexual text messaging would have gone farther and he would have preyed upon another minor, the mother said.

Hildebrandt, 41, of Urbana, originally charged with felony sexual exploitation by a school employee, pleaded in April to enticing a minor under age 16, an aggravated misdemeanor.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Mike Harris asked 6th Judicial District Judge Justin Lightfoot to sentence Hildebrandt to the maximum penalty — two years in prison. His “egregious” actions warrant prison because he was in a position of trust as a teacher. He sent the girl text messages, note cards of a sexual nature, made comments about her body and referred to her using intimate romantic nicknames. He also told her he was “madly in love with her.”

Defense lawyer Leon Spies asked the judge to sentence Hildebrandt to a deferred judgment, saying the crime was an “aberration, an infatuation gone wrong.” It doesn’t depict the person described in several letters of support submitted to the court from family and friends, many of who were in the courtroom.

Hildebrandt, during sentencing, said he let down his family, the student, his friends and the school. “I brought turmoil and chaos into her life,” he said.

Hildebrandt said he didn’t know if she would forgive him but hoped she would accept his apology.

Judge Lightfoot said Hildebrandt was in a position of trust as a teacher and his actions went “way beyond a boundary issue.” Hildebrandt had a chance to be a “positive influence” on this student’s life, but instead took advantage of her for his “own selfish needs and wants.”

None of this was her fault, the judge added.

Lightfoot, however, said he believed Hildebrandt was genuine in his acceptance of responsibility and remorse. He said he didn’t think a prison sentence was appropriate, granting the defense’s request.

A deferred judgment means that if Hildebrandt doesn’t violate his two years of probation, he can have this conviction wiped from his record. He still would be required to comply with the sex offender registry requirements for up to 10 years.

Lightfoot also ordered a no-contact order will remain for five years to protect the victim.

According to a criminal complaint, Hildebrandt started touching the girl’s hair and back and would give her hugs, she told investigators, and the relationship became “weird” when he followed her on social media and began messaging her, the complaint stated.

From June 1 through June 7, 2021, Hildebrandt sent multiple messages to her talking about “her body, eyes and smiles, expressing feelings of intimacy toward her ” and saying he was “in love with her,” according to the complaint.

In his messages, Hildebrandt indicated he knew those comments could be considered inappropriate, the complaint stated.

Hildebrandt resigned as a teacher and coach Dec. 13, 2021, according to school officials. The district conducted an internal investigation and approved his request for "good cause leave" in January 2021 to take effect at the end of the 2021 school year.

His teaching license expired Oct. 31, 2022, according to Iowa Board of Education Examiners records.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com