Report: Man-teen relationship 'mutual'

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A young woman now pregnant with her former teacher's child agreed to speak with the Grand Rapids Press on the same day that ex-teacher was handed his final sentence.

Former Saranac High School teacher Krag Sanford, 59, was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail, which he will serve concurrently with a related nine-month sentence out of Ionia County.

Sanford admitted to having a relationship with the former student, who was 16 at the time.

"This was totally a mutual thing," Amy Hendrick, now 18, told the Grand Rapids Press. "Nobody was forced into anything."

Hendrick was in court Tuesday for the sentencing and said she wants to set the record straight, telling the newspaper, "We're both really happy."

She said few people understand her connection to Sanford.

"If this was a different time, this wouldn't be a big deal," she said.

She told the Grand Rapids Press her relationship with Sanford did not become sexual until after he stopped teaching. Text messages from a police report seem to indicate otherwise.

Hendrick also said that in his 30 years as a teacher, this was the first time Sanford had become involved with a student. She said she thinks he will miss teaching, as he was forced to give up his teaching license.

"I just want people to know that he's a really good person," Hendrick told the Grand Rapids Press. "He just fell in love with somebody younger."

The two filed for a marriage license earlier this year. The teen said they still intends to marry and that Sanford will be a stay-at-home father.

Hendrick told the Grand Rapids Press she hopes to be allowed to see Sanford soon. She has been prevented from contact with him since charges surfaced in April.

24 Hour News 8 requested an interview with Hendrick, but she declined.

Target 8 investigators discovered Sanford will still collect more than $21,000 of his pension each year and health care coverage. Only the courts have the ability to forfeit benefits, according to the Department of Education. A department spokesperson said courts have forfeited benefits before -- but it's rare. Prosecutors in Ionia County and Kent County did not know they could request a forfeiture.