CEDAR RAPIDS — An 18-year-old Oklahoma man was charged last week for stealing a cellphone of a convicted former substitute teacher turned stripper at Woody’s Show Club.
Ociel Avila of Oklahoma City, Okla., was charged May 28 with third-degree theft, an aggravated misdemeanor, in Linn County District Court. He is accused of stealing an iPhone 8 the belonged to a Woody’s dancer, Mary Beth Haglin, 26, of Cedar Rapids, according to the criminal complaint. Video surveillance footage taken at the club shows Avila putting the phone in his pocket.
Haglin, a former Washington High substitute teacher, was convicted of sexual exploitation by a school employee, an aggravated misdemeanor in December 2017. She had a sexual relationship with 17-year-old student from 2015 through 2016, according to judge’s ruling. Haglin agreed to a bench or non jury trial based on the “minutes of testimony” — limited evidence presented by the prosecution.
6th Judicial District Judge Kevin McKeever’s ruling shows the 17-year-old student met Haglin in the spring of 2015, when she was a student teacher at Washington High. Haglin and the student then met again the fall, when Haglin returned to work as a substitute. They also admitted to messaging each other through social media and had sex in October 2015.
Haglin also sent nude photos to the student, and their sexual relationship ended in early June 2016, according to the ruling.
McKeever sentenced Haglin to 360 days, but suspended 270 days, which left 90 days for her to serve.
Haglin filed an appeal, which allowed her to delay jail sentence until the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled on the case. The appeals court made a ruling May 2 and upheld her conviction.
Assistant Linn County Attorney Monica Slaughter said as soon as the Linn County Clerk’s Office receives the official notice from the appeals court, she will have to serve her 90 days within 180 days of that notice date, in accordance with the judge’s ruling.
Haglin is also on supervised probation for two years, is required to register as a sex offender for 10 years and will be on special sentence of parole because this was a sex crime for 10 years.
l Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com