Former Miss Kentucky who sent lewd photos to 15-year-old student says they were meant for her husband
CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA: A former Miss Kentucky has admitted to exchanging sexual photos with a 15-year-old student whom she taught in West Virginia.
Ramsey BethAnn Bearse, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing material depicting minors in sexually explicit conduct on December 17. In court, she admitted she had made a mistake while exchanging messages on Snapchat last year.
According to police, she and the student, who cannot be named for legal reasons, exchanged sexually charged photos between August and October of 2018. According to a criminal complaint, lewd photos of Bearse were found by one of the student's parents on his phone, leading to her arrest in December 2018.
Bearse told the court she had meant to send a risque photo to her husband, but ended up sending it to the teen by mistake.
According to her, she continued to send additional photos to the student because she was "afraid to not appease him".
"Since I am the adult, and he was just a teenager, it is my fault, and I accept full blame for the situation," Bearse said. "So that’s how I’m guilty of this crime. I messed up big-time."
In 2014, Bearse was crowned Miss Kentucky under her maiden name Carpenter after she impressed judges by playing bluegrass music on her fiddle.
Following the win, she went on to serve as spokeswoman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and even featured in a series of interviews where she opened up about being diagnosed with a central nervous system disease back in 2010.
Most recently, Bearse was teaching science to eighth-graders at the Andrew Jackson Middle School in Cross Lanes, West Virginia.
Bearse now faces up to two years in prison on four felony counts of distribution or display of obscene matter to minors. She also faces the possibility of being ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life, as well as serving probation for up to 50 years following her release. The embattled teacher is currently out on bond.