Salina Post

SALINA — A former middle school counselor convicted in a case involving sex with a student was sentenced on Thursday.

Brooke Dinkel, 33, was sentenced in Saline County District Court to just less than 14 years in prison.

A jury convicted her in June on two counts of rape. She was acquitted on 18 other counts of rape and aggravated criminal sodomy.

Witnesses in the trial testified the boy was 13 when he and Dinkel first had sex in late 2012.

The boy, now 14, testified their last sexual contact before Dinkel’s arrest took place in March 2013.

Dinkel, who worked at Smoky Valley Middle School in Lindsborg, testified during the trial the boy forced himself on her the first time they had sex. She said she continued the encounters because the boy was threatening to get her in trouble.

The judge also ordered Dinkel to be on lifetime supervision once released.

She previously had taught at Felten Middle School in Hays.