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Former Ankeny teacher gets 20 years for sexual exploitation of a student

Former Ankeny teacher gets 20 years for sexual exploitation of a student
ON THE TABLE TONIGHT. NEW AT FIVE AN ANKENY POLICE INVESTIGATION REVEALS THE DETAILS THAT LED UP TO A TEACHER AND COACH BEING ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ABUSE AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION. vlog’S BEAU BOWMAN HAS BEEN DIGGING THROUGH COURT DOCUMENTS THIS AFTERNOON, AND BO, WHAT DID YOU FIND? WELL, JODI, WE FOUND A LOT. RACHEL WHITESIDE, A TEACHER AT NORTHVIEW MIDDLE SCHOOL AND AN AN ASSISTANT VARSITY COACH WITHIN THE ANKENY SCHOOL DISTRICT, HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH SEX ABUSE IN THE THIRD DEGREE, FOUR COUNTS OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION BY A SCHOOL EMPLOYEE, AND LASCIVIOUS CONDUCT WITH A MINOR. SCHOOL OFFICIALS STARTED THEIR INVESTIGATION IN JANUARY AFTER RECEIVING INFORMATION FROM A VICTIM, BUT THE VICTIM TOLD THEM IT HAD BEEN GOING ON SINCE AT LEAST 2015. THEY WERE ABLE TO ESTABLISH A PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR BACK FROM 2015. BEGINNING IN 2015, IT CONTINUED FOR SEVERAL YEARS. IN AN APPLICATION FOR A SEARCH WARRANT IN ANKENY, POLICE OFFICER DETAILED THE VICTIMS COMPLAINT TO ANKENY SCHOOLS, SUBMITTED ANONYMOUSLY IN LATE JANUARY. THE COMPLAINT READS, QUOTE, RACHEL WHITESIDE KISSED ME WHEN I WAS 14 YEARS OLD AS WELL. INITIATED SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH ME AS A MINOR ON MANY OCCASIONS, AND THESE INSTANCES OCCURRED IN HER CLASSROOM AT NORTHVIEW MIDDLE SCHOOL. AFTER SCHOOL HOURS, AS WELL AS OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL IN PARKING LOTS. IN HER CAR, RACHEL WHITESIDE GROOMED ME AND ABUSED. ME. IT WASN’T UNTIL JUST BEFORE I TURNED 23 THAT I BROKE TIES WITH HER. END QUOTE THE DOCUMENT SAYS WHITESIDE WAS PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE DURING A SEARCH OF HER CLASSROOM. SCHOOL DISTRICT INVESTIGATORS FOUND SEVERAL PICTURES OF THE VICTIM AND A LETTER. THE VICTIM WROTE TO WHITESIDE YEARS AGO. SCHOOL INVESTIGATORS ALSO SEARCHED WHITESIDE SCHOOL LAPTOP AND FOUND, QUOTE, TOO MANY TO COUNT. EMAILS BETWEEN THE VICTIM AND WHITESIDE, INCLUDING ONE TITLED HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. THREE THE SEARCH WARRANT APPLICATION SAYS SIX SCHOOL STAFF MEMBERS WERE INTERVIEWED AND ONE TOLD INVESTIGATOR THEY REMEMBERED THE VICTIM AND ANOTHER STUDENT BEING IN WHITESIDES MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASSROOM. QUOTE, A LOT AT SCHOOL HOURS. BUT POLICE SAY NO ONE KNEW OF A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE VICTIM AND WHITESIDE UNTIL THE COMPLAINT WAS FILED IN LATE JANUARY OF 2024. IT TOOK SO LONG, NO ONE KNEW ABOUT ANY OF IT. AND THEN THE VICTIM FINALLY, AT SOME POINT CAME FORWARD AND WANTED TO TELL THEIR STORY. SO THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED JUST LAST MONTH, THE ANKENY SCHOOL DISTRICT SENT vlog A STATEMENT THAT READS IN PART IN THIS CASE, AS IS THE DISTRICT’S STANDARD PRACTICE, WHEN AN ALLEGATION OF THIS TYPE IS MADE, THE STAFF MEMBER WAS IMMEDIATELY PLACED ON ADMINISTERED LEAVE PENDING AN INVESTIGATION. INFORMATION GATHERED DURING THE DISTRICT’S INVESTIGATION CAUSED THE DISTRICT TO CONTACT THE ANKENY POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR A POSSIBLE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION. THE DISTRICT REFUSED TO ANSWER ANY OF OUR FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS. WHITESIDE IS BEING HELD
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Updated: 1:36 PM CDT Jun 13, 2025
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Former Ankeny teacher gets 20 years for sexual exploitation of a student
vlog logo
Updated: 1:36 PM CDT Jun 13, 2025
Editorial Standards
A former Ankeny middle school teacher and softball coach will spend the next 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee - pattern, practice or scheme of conduct.According to the Polk County Attorney's Office, 35-year-old Rachel Elizabeth Whiteside was arrested in February 2024 after school officials received a tip from a former student that Whiteside started a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student in 2015, when she was 26 years old. Whiteside was a teacher and softball coach at Ankeny Northview Middle School.Previous video above: Ankeny teacher, softball coach arrested for sex abuse involving former student At sentencing, Whiteside's attorneys argued for a 10-year sentence, but Polk County Judge Paul Scott sentenced her to four consecutive sentences of five years, for a total of 20 years behind bars. Whiteside will also be under the supervision of the Iowa Department of Corrections for 10 years and be listed on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry."The defendant sees herself as the victim in this case," said Assistant County Attorney Thomas Tolbert. "She should have been the teacher she was required to be. Instead of helping (the victim), she sexually abused her multiple times."Whiteside apologized to the victim, saying, "This was entirely my failure. I had a responsibility to maintain boundaries, and I deeply regret the harm I caused."The victim said Whiteside controlled, manipulated and abused her for seven years."I looked up to this person, and she took advantage of my vulnerability," the victim said. She also said the abuse and trauma drove her to attempt suicide multiple times.The victim's mother said the abuse emotionally and financially impacted the victim's family."I've had anxiety and feelings of guilt for not being able to protect my child," the mother said.Before sentencing Whiteside, Scott said he was "struck by (her) lack of acceptance of responsibility.""It was grooming from the beginning to the end," he said.

A former Ankeny middle school teacher and softball coach will spend the next 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee - pattern, practice or scheme of conduct.

According to the Polk County Attorney's Office, 35-year-old Rachel Elizabeth Whiteside was arrested in February 2024 after school officials received a tip from a former student that Whiteside started a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student in 2015, when she was 26 years old. Whiteside was a teacher and softball coach at Ankeny Northview Middle School.

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Previous video above: Ankeny teacher, softball coach arrested for sex abuse involving former student

At sentencing, Whiteside's attorneys argued for a 10-year sentence, but Polk County Judge Paul Scott sentenced her to four consecutive sentences of five years, for a total of 20 years behind bars. Whiteside will also be under the supervision of the Iowa Department of Corrections for 10 years and be listed on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry.

"The defendant sees herself as the victim in this case," said Assistant County Attorney Thomas Tolbert. "She should have been the teacher she was required to be. Instead of helping (the victim), she sexually abused her multiple times."

Whiteside apologized to the victim, saying, "This was entirely my failure. I had a responsibility to maintain boundaries, and I deeply regret the harm I caused."

The victim said Whiteside controlled, manipulated and abused her for seven years.

"I looked up to this person, and she took advantage of my vulnerability," the victim said. She also said the abuse and trauma drove her to attempt suicide multiple times.

The victim's mother said the abuse emotionally and financially impacted the victim's family.

"I've had anxiety and feelings of guilt for not being able to protect my child," the mother said.

Before sentencing Whiteside, Scott said he was "struck by (her) lack of acceptance of responsibility."

"It was grooming from the beginning to the end," he said.