Sentencing set for ex-teacher after guilty plea

By NewsPress Now

A former Robidoux Middle School teacher will be sentenced next month after following his guilty plea to a charge of first-degree sodomy.

Everett “Tim” Harding, 47, admitted that he engaged in a relationship with a then 14-year-old girl that included sexual contact. Sentencing has been set for 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4, in front of Judge Patrick Robb.

The plea was made on Sept. 16. Harding faces a sentence of five years to life in prison. As part of his plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to file additional charges in the case.

Harding, of Maryville, was charged after a May 7 incident involving the girl in his locked classroom after school that day. One staff member reported finding Harding’s classroom door locked but then later seeing him and the victim leave.

The St. Joseph School District Board of Education terminated his employment in June. Harding taught math at Robidoux since 2022 and has worked at four other schools in the area, including Spring Garden Middle School in St. Joseph, in the last decade.