Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Teacher Gets Slap on the Wrist for Sex with Boy She Coached

Episode Date: November 14, 2025

Kassidy Alexander, 28, has admitted that she had sex with a student that she coached at DeSoto High School in DeSoto, Kansas. Alexander had faced the possibility of prison time if convicted at trial. But, she pleaded guilty in September to a charge where she admitted to having sex with a 17-year-old boy. Law&Crime’s Angenette Levy goes through Alexander’s sentencing hearing in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/CrimeFixHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest:Dan Schorr https://x.com/danschorrProducer:Jordan ChaconCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. You are solely responsible for everything that happens in your life. You and you alone. A former coach and teacher's aide learns her punishment for having sex with a student more than a dozen times. I'll take you to the sentencing of Cassidy Alexander and tell you what her husband is saying about this. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy, and this is Crime Fix. There's a reason that Morgan and Morgan is the country's largest personal injury law firm.

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that you see right there on your screen. Let me tell you, Cassidy Alexander, she's She's a lucky woman. She may not think so, but after hearing the sentence that she received for having sex with a student, something she readily admitted to. I think you will think she probably got off pretty easy. Alexander is just 28 years old and her case takes us to Johnson County, Kansas. I first told you about Cassidy Alexander in August of 2024. She had been booked into the jail after she was accused of having sex with a student who was 16 or older. Alexander was a paraprofessional at Lexington Trails, middle school in DeSoto outside of Kansas City. The teen's parents reported the relationship to the sheriff's office after confronting their son. The detective wrote an affidavit. Cassidy Alexander and the boy are not married. And in fact, Alexander's husband was deployed during this time frame. The parents had become suspicious based on the boys sneaking over to Alexander's in the night and lying about why. The parents confronted their son about his relationship with Alexander and he admitted they were having a sexual relationship. However, he said at the time that it didn't start until he was 18 years old.

But that wasn't exactly the whole truth. The detective wrote, the teen had previously disclosed to his cousin, the relationship between he and Alexander, and that it had started in July of 2023 when the victim was 17. The teen said that he met Cassidy Alexander when he was in eighth grade and in cross country at Lexington Trails Middle School in DeSoto. She was his cross-country. coach and a paraprofessional at the school he attended. In high school, the teen began to babysit Cassidy Alexander's children. At that time, Alexander was an assistant high school tennis coach at DeSoto High School, where the teen was enrolled as a student. And the sex between the student and Cassidy Alexander, this wasn't a one-time thing. Far from it. Law enforcement officer spoke both

to Cassidy Alexander and the teen regarding their relationship. The teen said things got flirty in the summer of 2023. He was 17 years old and she was 26 years old. The teen said that they began having sex in July of 2023. He said they had sex at least 10 to 15 times between July 2023 and March of 2024 when he turned 18 years old. The teen said the sexual encounters were always at Cassidy Alexander's house located in Johnson County, Kansas. Now, detectives also interviewed Cassidy Alexander and she admitted to having sex with the student. Cassidy Alexander's said during the summer of 2023, the relationship changed from friendly to sexual. She identified the first time they had sex as around the time of a vacation she took on July 25, 2023. The teen left the country

for study abroad between August 2023 and January 2024. But when he returned in January 2024, Alexander said they picked up where they left off, meaning they would hang out, talk and have sex. She said they had sex eight to ten times after the student returned from study abroad. And get this, the cops said they searched the victim's phone and Cassidy Alexander's phone and they found a number of photos of them hugging, kissing, and engaging in sexual situations along with text messages where they talked about how much they loved one another. So this week, more than a year, after Cassidy Alexander's arrest on sex crimes charges, she was sentenced. She had pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual relations. Alexander,

She could have gotten actual prison time, but that wasn't really in the cards for her. Here's the prosecutor. There is a plea agreement in this case. I would, of course, request that the court follow the plea agreement. Pursuant to that plea agreement, the state would recommend the top or aggravated number in the grid box. That number being 34 months. As the court has indicated, this is a or would be a border box case. usually but for the special rule on number 38 the recommendation pursuant to the

plea agreement is that the defendant be placed on probation with community corrections not court services but community corrections that's the higher level of supervision in this jurisdiction this is according to the plea agreement noted in the plea agreement an offender registration case so I'd ask the court to make that finding. I'd also pursuant to the plea agreement request that the court make no contact order as a condition of probation with the victim, the victim's parents, the residence of the victim or the victim's parents, and or the place of employment of the victim and the victim's parents. The defendant would be responsible for court costs. I know Your Honor

knows the facts of this case as you were involved in mediation efforts, which, of course, the parties appreciate your effort in that. So I don't think it's necessary for me to go over what this case is about. The court is familiar with it. The court is familiar with the facts Of this case, it is obviously a sensitive case that the defendant led a lot of people down, including herself, her husband. And of course, the victim in this case took advantage of a younger individual. She has got herself into treatment. is that's something we learned during the mediation efforts.

Now, one person who has likely been harmed more than anyone throughout this, despite the stereotypes about high school boys, possibly really liking this type of thing, the victim. His parents spoke first to his father. Mrs. Alexander's actions caused harm to our son and our family. This is Alexander first met our son when he's a pre-pubescent middle school child. To groom and manipulate that relationship into a sexual relationship. relationship is inexcusable and illegal. It is my expectation as a parent that when my child goes to school, his safety is not the responsible of only direct teachers and coaches, but ever an employee who steps on district property. Our son made terrible personal and financial decisions as a direct result of his relationship with Mrs. Alexander, which he and our family are still working through. It is our hope today, Your Honor, that Mrs. Alexander is held.

accountable for her actions. Thank you. And then the victim's mother spoke. Your honor, thank you for allowing me this opportunity to speak on behalf of my child and our family. I am the parent of the child who was abused by Mrs. Alexander, a district paraprofessional and coach entrusted with care, safety, and education at children. What happened to my child wasn't a mistake or a lapse in judgment. It was a deliberate abuse of power and trust by an adult who knew better. The damage left behind has changed my child's life and our family's life in ways that cannot be undone. As a parent, it is devastating to watch your child's spirit break. I have sat with my child through sleepless nights and therapy sessions that no

teenager should ever need because of what an adult chose to do to them. This wasn't just a betrayal of one child. It was a betrayal of every parent who trusted the district to protect their children. We send our kids to school believing they will be safe. that the adults there will model integrity, respect, and kindness. Mrs. Alexander shattered that trust not just for my child but our entire community. For years she deliberately groomed my child using her position of trust to blurb boundaries and manipulate him emotionally. What began as friendly conversations turned into constant contact private messaging on Snapchat and efforts to isolate

him from others who cared about him. She treated him like a peer instead of a student encouraging a false sense of closeness that no district employee should create with a student. Her actions were not only immoral but illegal, exploiting her authority, and the most devastatingly possible. The impact of her actions did not end when the abuse stopped. The consequences continue every day as my child's emotional and my child's emotional and mental health. He fills a deep sense of shame that he is still working through today. This harm demands real accountability and a sentence that reflects the serious. of what was done. I ask the court to recognize the depth of harm caused not only to my child,

but to the community's faith in those who are meant to protect them. The law does not and should not differentiate between a male and female abusers. Abuse of a child is abuse of a child, no matter who commits it. I ask the court to hold her fully accountable for her actions and impose a sentence that reflects the seriousness of her crime and the lifelong impact it will have on my child and our family. Thank you. Then it was time for Cassidy Alexander's attorney to speak. I certainly take no issue with anything anyone has said here today. I think in considering punishment, since we're talking about the law, the court is also required to consider whether there are any substantial or compelling reasons to depart from the presumptive sentence.

And I would submit that there are. Number one, my client has taken responsibility for her actions. That started with awaiting her right to a preliminary hearing and ended with her entering a guilty police certainly not only did that save the state and the court valuable resources but it saved the victim in this case from having to testify which doesn't take a lot of thought to realize can be very difficult second as noted by mr o'connor miss alexander has engaged a substantial rehabilitative efforts that began in february of 2025 where she voluntarily commenced an evaluative process with court approved provider Bruce Capo that evaluation deemed her a low risk made some

recommendations for treatment indicated the same could be addressed through outpatient treatment we had a little bit of trouble getting hooked up with a specific treatment provider but in May of 2025 she began the recommended treatment and has been successful and works voluntarily on a month basis on a maintenance basis. Three, Ms. Alexander has significant family support. Her husband, thankful to him, has been very supportive. Her parents are very supportive, and as the court is aware, that is something that can provide enough, you know, I don't mean overuse the word, but support to ensure her success on a contract of probation.

Fourth, she has demonstrated her ability to probation. In addition to voluntarily completing the treatment, she's had no issues while on bond. And finally, this is made as a request by both Ms. Alexander and the state pursuant to a plea agreement. Mr. O'Connor is an extremely experienced prosecutor.

He's dealt with a lot of high-level cases and serious cases, including the allegations here. And I know the court respects his judgment. judgment and recommendation. As do I. In addition, as you mentioned, the court was a part of this agreement, excuse me, a part of the mediation process and very helpful in that process. And so we would ask that the court adopt the agreement. I want to say one final thing. With respect to consequences, I think sometimes in these types of cases, it's easy to gloss over certain things that are very consequential. And Ms. Alexander, understandably so, is facing those consequences. Those include whatever public humiliation she suffered, but more importantly, she has to register for an tender for 25 years. She will never be able to expunge this offense. She will be a felon for the rest of her life unless some type of law changes. Cassidy Alexander, she did not make a statement. Instead,

allowing her attorney to speak on her behalf, as you just heard. Then it was time for the judge to speak and explain why she was signing off on this plea agreement. No reality whereby there shouldn't be consequences for the acts, and it wasn't one act, but for the acts that brought you before the court today. Public humiliation is the goal of the court, but of course, I'm quite certain you're living with that. just as all of us live with any sort of consequences for our behavior. Registration is also very serious because it does change the trajectory of your life and what you can do with your life. But that's not the concern of the court.

The court has to look and determine whether or not to grant you a departure, a dispositional departure in this case, or opt to send you to prison. The court did review the, and of course the court's familiar with the facts of the case, but the court did review the defendant's motion for a downward dispositional departure and notes that you did accept responsibility, and that you did enter a plea without requiring the victim in this case to come forth and have to testify, which would be a form of public humiliation for the victim most likely. I'm not speaking for the victim in this case, but that is a difficult

thing for anyone to do to come into court and relive something like this. You did have a constitutional right to have a preliminary hearing for a trial or both, and you did waive your right to both of those. Regarding your rehabilitative efforts, the court's very familiar with Dr. Capo and clinical associates and finds that they are the evaluations that they complete are very thorough and certainly Dr. Capo is very forthcoming in what's appropriate in any given case. Here he found that you are a low risk for future attending behavior provided you followed through on your treatment which you've been working towards. and you're now complying by participating in outpatient or follow-up treatment anyway,

maintenance, if you will, on a monthly basis. I'm going to make it an order of any probation that you comply with that, because I think until it's no longer therapeutically recommended, that you need to be in treatment. So the judge told Cassidy Alexander all of this was her fault. Something, something was going on with you that would make, that would, to try to explain how you ended up sitting here today. When you obviously had a husband who loves you and a family,

you risked everything. So you did need treatment. But I don't believe that a couple months of treatment would be sufficient. for you and I think you would probably agree if you were sitting in my seat. Regarding family support, I'm glad you had family support. I was quite shocked to learn that your husband was as supportive as he is. It's pretty remarkable actually that he's still by your side. Well that's relevant because there are many people in this community

who do not have community support who come before the corner. you come before the court, it will not be a crutch for you. You are solely responsible for everything that happens in your life. You and you alone. And you will remain solely responsible for everything that happens in your life. There was a plea agreement in this case. It is not something that anybody jumped into. This case is from 2024.

Cassidy Alexander, she was sentenced to 34 months in prison, but she will only serve that time if she violates her probation, and she'll be on probation for 36 months. After the 36 months, it's the balance of the 25 years, 22 years you have left registering as a sex offender. Many people fail at that as well. there's only one thing waiting for you if you even consider doing something in violation of your probation there's one door and it's the door to prison and that would be three years away from your family

regardless of their support so i want to bring in dan shor he is a former sex crimes prosecutor also the author of the book Open Bar. It's about teacher sexual misconduct. Dan, I really want to know your thoughts on this sentence. So Cassidy Alexander, a teacher, the parents said, basically the parents of the victim said, she started grooming our son when he was in junior high. But she gets this 34-month prison sentence, which is basically suspended if she, you know, if she misbehaves on probation and violates she goes to prison. Your thoughts on this sentence? It is a surprising sentence that there's no incarceration that's part of it. I think this is part of a larger nationwide movement towards less incarceratory sentences for people who don't have a clear

criminal record and that frustrates people for understandable reasons in many cases. But here we have ongoing sex abuse. This was someone in a position of power, someone who's a student in the school. You have messages confirming that they were having ongoing sexual relationship. You have the the victim here talking about how he had sex with this person who worked at his school, how he started being groomed when he was much younger, even before we know the sexual interaction started according to both the victim and the defendant. So there's a lot of reasons to be concerned here that there's no incarceration, but I understand that that is becoming more common when there's no criminal record. And because he was, according to the charges 17 when they did

have sex, he was a student, so that made it illegal. But it wasn't the same as someone who's younger and clearly underage. Well, and the thing to me, too, is that the student at first said the sex didn't start until he was 18, so he fibbed. And then that he said, well, no, it was when he was 17. Maybe that's all they could prove. Who knows? You know, I guess her husband was deployed during the time when this happened.

You know, to me, it's all a little bit, this sounds, it feels to me like there's a lot of ick factor here like oh well my husband was deployed so i had sex with a student like come on i mean he's a student like give me a break they found your phone full of photos and his phone full of photos of pictures with them posing together you know you know in sexual situations like i mean gross and they were they were obviously engaged in something that was very wrong um you know I'm not being a Puritan here. I mean, she's the teacher. She's known him since junior high.

And then they get together. And he's like, he's babysitting her children for God's sakes. And he's sneaking out of the house at night to go over to her house and have sex. I mean, you know, there's, I know there's all these misconceptions about like, oh, well, I wish that would have happened to me when I was in high school. But this kid, his parents have said he's had some bad effects from them. Like, there have been, you know, this has impacted him negatively in his life. Yeah, I think it's so important what you just said. I started my career as a sex crimes prosecutor 25 years ago.

I now investigate sexual misconduct largely with educational institutions, like the one involved in this matter. And we always saw for years that people, unfortunately, did not take it seriously when sex abuse occurred between a woman and an underage boy, that that wasn't taken as seriously, that as you alluded to before, people would have that whole wink wink, nod, oh, I wish that happened to me, attitude, and really overlooks the real sex abuse that's occurring there and how boys at that age are in a very formative time in their lives with a learning about healthy relationships and starting to learn about sexuality

and to have their introduction to all of that be through a relationship like this with someone in control of them, in a power position in their school, older than them when they're very young. That is damaging to their ability to just grow as a person. It's traumatic. And we've, in my work, my colleagues and I have talked to people who are much older who are reporting these things that happened when they were teenagers and they're still scarred from them. So it's very serious. I think that in this case, because there was, it seems we don't know of a criminal record before that, that might have made the judge more likely to give probation. But it's important that people don't take that sentence to show that this was not serious because it

clearly is. And you talked about how the victim here originally said it happened when he was 18. They said 17. Just in my work with sex abuse victims, it is extremely common for them to minimize what happened when they're reporting it, especially initially. And that's for a variety of reasons. Some of it is just misplaced self-blame or shame because they know that their parents are going to hear about this. Other people are going to hear about this. It's in the news. So they don't want to admit to certain conduct that's going to be embarrassing to them. Also, when there's an ongoing relationship often the younger person when they're groomed thinks that it's a real relationship even though it's inappropriate and they don't want to get the other person in trouble because

they care for them even though they were sexually abused by them so I think that's a lot of reasons why you might have seen a change in what age was reported as the time that sex started between them yeah I mean this kid you know he's probably in the community everybody probably knows who he is we're of course not identifying his parents or him not even using his initials, but everybody probably knows who he is. He's probably embarrassed. You know, the judge is like, well, she took responsibility. She didn't bring, you know, put the victim through the, you know, trauma of having to come in and testify, et cetera. But most cases resolve via plea. So, I mean, that's, I mean, yeah. So she, I mean, she was caught.

They had her dead to rights. I mean, they had her phone. They had her admissions. I mean, she was not getting out of this. Let's face facts. Yeah, it seems like there's overwhelming evidence. And we see this in more and more cases now where there's electronic evidence where people are really brazen about these relationships that are inappropriate. You would think that someone doing this with a student at their school would keep everything on the down low and be really hiding everything. But we see a lot of times people are messaging each other, sending photos to each other, keeping photos of this inappropriate relationship on their phone. And when law enforcement gets that, it's hard for a defendant to explain it in an innocent way. But I see that

over and over again that people are really, really brazen about the type of information that's electronically stored. Maybe they think no one else will get to view it at any point, but it really confirms what the allegations are here. It's a very strong case for the prosecution. And you would think that that would lead them to push for more of an incarceratory sentence, but the judges didn't want to do that here. What do you think about the husband apparently supporting her and standing by her. I mean, maybe we don't know anything about the dynamics of this relationship other than, you know, you share children together that complicates things. He was deployed at the time. Maybe he feels like somehow and maybe he's blaming himself, which he shouldn't be, you know,

but what do you think of that? Well, I do see that in a lot of cases also. And I think that you never know what's going on behind closed doors, what the nature of their relationship was, what they've talked about since then having children together definitely provides a major incentive to try to stay together and work beyond this. But I'm sure it's very hurtful to find out that not just your spouse is having sexual relations with somebody else, but that it's with someone who is young, a student in their school. And I'm sure that's something that is really difficult. People saying that they're going to try to work it out and stay together doesn't mean that they always do. I've seen a lot of situations where that's people's initial intent in good faith, but that it's just hard

to do that. So we'll, you know, if this case moves forward, we don't know if this marriage will stay together. But I guess that's their goal at this time. Maybe it's for the children. We just don't know. Well, I hope that this kid, I mean, he's still a kid, even though he's now an adult, but still kind of like mentally a kid, you know, probably 19 by now. I hope that he gets the help that he needs. Dan Shore, thank you so much. Thanks. It's good to talk to you. Good to talk to you. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix.

I'm Annette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.