A former King’s Way Christian School assistant basketball coach was sentenced Friday to 20 months in prison for having a sexual relationship with a female student.
Though Kyley J. Allworth, 29, pleaded for a lesser punishment, saying she wanted more time outside prison to heal the relationships in her life, Clark County Superior Court Judge Diane Woolard told the defendant she needed more time behind bars to receive sex offender treatment.
Allworth cried and bowed her head as the judge said she wasn’t sure Allworth understood the extent of the pain she caused.
“The most damaging form of abuse is sexual abuse,” Woolard said.
Woolard went with the high end of the sentencing range, which is 15 to 20 months.
Allworth, also the school’s former assistant librarian, pleaded guilty April 27 to two counts of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor. The crimes relate to two incidents that are believed to have occurred sometime between Feb. 1 and March 10.
Allworth was a mentor to the 17-year-old girl, sheriff’s deputies have said, and the relationship was consensual. While the age of consent is 16, it’s a crime for a teacher or coach to have sex with a student.
As part of the sentence, the Vancouver woman will be under community supervision for three years and must register as a sex offender for 10 years.
The victim did not attend Friday’s sentencing hearing, but made a statement, which was read by a victim’s advocate. The girl wrote that she had trusted Allworth as a mentor, and, at first, did not realize the extent of the damage caused by the relationship.
“I trusted her and she used that to her advantage,” the girl wrote.
The victim said all of the students at the Christian school adored Allworth and went to movies and spent time outside school with her. Allworth was respected and trusted among staff and students alike, the girl said.
That broken trust was heartbreaking for the school, the girl’s mom said in a statement, also read by the advocate.
“The halls of the school were similar to when a young student died of leukemia: weeping and praying,” the statement read.
Defense attorney Diane Sweet told the judge her client should receive a lesser sentence because of her clean record with the school and in the community.
When it was her turn to speak, Allworth said she resigned her position at the school, confessed her crimes to investigators and agreed to plead guilty because she had a guilty conscience.
“I have ruined lives, changed lives,” Allworth said. “My family and … 750 students.
“I know I could not live with myself, with the lies and that’s why I turned myself in,” she added.
Still, she asked the judge for a softer sentence, so she could begin working to repair damaged relationships with her estranged husband and family.
Woolard told her that she wouldn’t be able to undergo sex offender treatment — something Allworth requested — with a 15-month sentence.
“Twenty months, all things considered, is a reasonable sentence,” Woolard said.
Laura McVicker: http://twitter.com/col_courts; http://facebook.com/reportermcvicker; laura.mcvicker@columbian.com; 360-735-4516.
