Former Texhoma Coach Pleads Guilty

A former Hennessey girls’ basketball
coach has pleaded guilty to two felony charges of second-degree
rape for having sex with an 18-year-old student at the school.
The Enid News and Eagle reports that 33-year-old Ben Forsythe
was sentenced to 90 days in the Kingfisher County Jail and 10 years
of probation after entering the plea Friday in district court. The
plea and sentence are the result of a plea deal with the district
attorney’s office that was reached after Forsythe’s challenge to
state law defining rape was rejected.
Forsythe admitted having sex with the then 18-year-old girl.
State law prohibits sex between a student younger than 20 and an
employee of the student’s public school or vocational system who is
older than 18.