Female teacher, 61, receives massive sentence for sex with student, 15, while another educator, 25, awaits trial over small town scandal so shameful it forced private Christian school to close forever

By WILL POTTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 21:06, 21 May 2026 | Updated: 21:27, 21 May 2026 A female teacher at an elite Georgia private school was hit with a 25-year sentence after she admitted to having sex with a 15-year-old student.  Sherri Maudlin, 61, a former teacher at Nathanael Greene Academy in Siloam, Georgia, pleaded guilty to statutory rape and improper sexual contact with her former student for over a year.  Prosecutors said Maudlin repeatedly sexually assaulted her student from January to December 2022, but she was not caught until June 2024 when investigators were tipped off.  During the investigation into Maudlin, police said they also discovered that a second teacher, Bonnie Brown, 25, also allegedly raped the same student at the school.  Brown had previously been a student at Nathanael Greene Academy and was selected as homecoming queen in 2016, with the scandals stunning the Siloam community and prompting school officials to close the elite private school in March 2025.  Maudlin was sentenced this week after she admitted in her testimony to having sex with the teenage student, and she was handed a sentence of 12 years in prison, and 25 total years on probation.  When she testified in her own defense, Maudlin said she raped the boy when she found herself in a 'dark place' in her life.  Despite her admissions, the Maudlin's attorney requested a lenient sentence, asking the judge to keep her out of prison entirely and for only probation with 'weekend confinement' at the county jail. Sherri Maudlin, 61, a former teacher at Nathanael Greene Academy in Siloam, Georgia, pleaded guilty to having sex with a 15-year-old student at the elite private school  Police said during their investigation into Maudlin, they discovered that her fellow teacher Bonnie Brown, 25, (pictured) also allegedly had sex with the same underage student  When the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Terry Massey sentenced Maudlin this week, he condemned the teacher and described it as a 'sad situation.'  Prosecutor T. Wright Barksdale said despite Maudlin being hit with a large sentence, he had hoped she would spend even longer behind bars after he requested at least an 18 year prison stretch.  'I would be lying to you if I didn’t tell you that I was slightly disappointed by the court’s sentence,' he said.  'Only because there were so many aggravating circumstances in conjunction with the state of Georgia trying to take into account whatever mitigating circumstances there were.'  Police said their investigation into Maudlin led them to discover her fellow teacher Bonnie Brown had also allegedly had sex with the same 15-year-old student.  Brown was arrested March 21 and was charged with improper sexual contact by an employee, agent, or foster parent; aggravated child molestation; and statutory rape.  Ashley Mitchell, attorney for the victim, told 11Alive that the student had been sexually attacked by both women at the private school. 'There was physical contact at the school and outside the school,' Mitchell said.  Brown was accused of raping the same 15-year-old boy as Maudlin  Brown had previously been a student at Nathanael Greene Academy and was selected as homecoming queen in 2016 The arrests of the two teachers stunned the Siloam community and prompted school officials to close the private school in March 2025  In a statement from the teenager following Brown and Maudlin's arrests, they said: 'I am relieved that these two women have been arrested and the crimes are being fully investigated. 'These women took advantage of their positions as my teachers. My school did not protect me as a child. I see that now, and I hope that these arrests will protect our community and children in it.' Mitchell accused the school of failing to prevent the attacks and suggested there may be more victims, saying one of the teachers had previously been written up for inappropriate conduct but no action had been taken.  'Students who are being groomed by teachers are in a very difficult situation,' she continued.  'It’s not until they’re removed from the situation and have the opportunity to process what happened that they feel comfortable speaking out.... I think there is somewhat of a double standard between high school victims who are underage who are being groomed by females as opposed to men.'  At the time of her arrest, Brown was working as an elementary school teacher at Washington-Wilkes Primary School in Wilkes County.  Brown's trial is still pending, and the teacher requested a jury trial. She has not yet pleaded.   No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.