Suspended drumline instructor sentenced

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A suspended Bryon Center High School band assistant has been sentenced after having inappropriate relationships with students that included exchanging explicit photographs.

Bradley Harris pleaded guilty on Dec. 20, 2011 to three charges, including possession of child abuse activity, furnishing obscenity to a minor, and using a computer to commit a crime.

He was sentenced on Thursday to six months in the Kent County Jail with credit for one day served. He'll then spend the following three years on probation. The first three months of probation, he will be required to wear an electronic tether.

Harris, who was suspended from his job as a drumline instructor at Byron Center High School in September 2011, was originally arraigned on five counts.

The charges against Harris stemmed from his contact with a current student, Kent County Undersheriff Jon Hess told 24 Hour News 8 in October 2011, and investigators were able to develop charges because that student is minor.

Other former students did report inappropriate relationships, but they were not minors, the undersheriff said. He said the inappropriate contact goes back at least three years.