Coach, 40, Weds 16-Year-Old Student, in North Carolina Options

[moebary]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3305652&page=1

The Hagers are trying to figure out how life went off track for their teenage daughter, Windy.

They envisioned that life for the good student and promising athlete would be filled with dreams of the prom and college, but that all changed this week when Windy, 16, married her high school track coach.

"She was a dream kid," said her mother, Betty Hager. "We'd never have to worry about Windy trying to get by with something."

At South Brunswick High School in North Carolina, Windy's greatest passion was track and field.

"She just always was outside, always running, and her name's Windy — I guess she was predestined to do love to do that," Betty said.

But that passion led her down a troubling path.

Special Attention From Coach
During Windy's freshman year, her 38-year-old track coach, Brenton Wuchae, began taking a more active interest in her, offering to give the 14-year-old rides home from practice.

"He just seemed like a genuine guy, like he was there for the kids," said Windy's father, Dennis Hager.

But the Hagers eventually grew uneasy. Their phone bills showed text messages between Wuchae and Windy as late as 2 a.m.

They also discovered worrying e-mails. In one, Windy wrote to a friend, "I don't care to look at anyone other than him. He is the apple of my eye, I've never felt this way for someone, but I just don't want to lose him because of my parents' power trips."

The Hagers confronted Wuchae.

"He assured me there was nothing like that going on, [and that] they were just friends. His intentions were purely appropriate," Dennis said.

Not satisfied with that answer, the Hagers turned to the school district, which spoke to the coach.

The principal of the high school wrote to the Hagers, "I have seen nothing but a cooperative attitude from the teacher, and to the best of my knowledge, he has not had any contact with Windy since then."

"School officials can't be responsible for what happens the other hours of the day, and I would think the relationship developed much more outside of school," said Brian Shaw, an attorney for the school district.

The Hagers contacted police; they even tried to get a restraining order.

"We've tried everybody. We've been to the law. We've been to the school board," Betty said. "Our family has come and tried to talk to her. We've had people on the phone with her for hours — family, friends. We've been to our pastor asking for guidance. We've been to his pastor."

Meanwhile, the Hagers say Windy withdrew, refusing to speak to them until she asked them to sign a consent form so that she and her coach — a man more than twice her age — could get married.

Although anguished, her weary parents gave in.

"Signing those consent forms was the hardest thing I did in my whole life, but we had to move on, it was going to kill us all," Dennis said.

Monday, Windy and Wuchae married, and he resigned from the school.

But was Windy really old enough to understand her decision? Experts say it's a difficult situation.

"With most teenagers, they're not sure yet who's who and what's what and what should be done," said Henry Paul, author of the book "Is My Teenager OK?" "It's obviously up to the adult figure to set the boundaries."

Windy and her new husband would not comment for this story, but the Hagers realize what they've lost.

"She could have done anything," Betty said. "She could have set the world on fire. She threw it all away."

[False Dude]

oh yeah this will last

egads! even my track coach was way more attractive than that and didnt have the pedo smile going

- testm0

[Spectatrix]

Probably won't last, but wtf is all this talk of her throwing her life away? Just because she married someone 24 years her senior doesn't mean she's going to abandon plans to go to college and do well in life...

[False Dude]

what are the chances she'll lead a normal life though? in a lot of states hed be considered a pedophile and he definitely is one in my mind.

yeah she married someone 24yrs her senior and thats been done but shes 16.

shes got to finish high school first. i wonder what social group will accept them? having a system of support is really important. what they did was totally isolating. if school systems adn especially parents hear about what he did im sure there will be plenty of people to run him out of ever getting a teaching or coaching job


but in the end its just wrong for a grown man to carry on with a child


and the parents signed the consent? i can understand being tired and it "killing" you but parents have been through much worse. go up and smack your kid jesus
why didnt they pull her out of that school? hell i would move to get away from it and keep her on lockdown. shed just need time away from him to realize there are high school boys she can date. hes a predator

if they have kids gross. if i was a kid and heard about the circumstances aroud their meetings and marriage i would be scared of my father

[James]

Wow, that made me think of something. If he makes a porno with her, could he be charged with child pornography?!

And what the fuck did her parents consent for. They're the parents and get to make the decision until she's 18.

EDIT: Ooops. You added stuff while I was typing. But good point. Lock her ass down, don't give in.

[Spectatrix]

They tried talking to her extensively and it didn't do any good. Do you really think a lock-down would have resulted in anything other than her sneaking around to see him?

Their best bet at this juncture is to remain on good terms with their daughter and monitor the relationship as best they can, intervening if it turns out to be abusive or welcoming her back with open arms if she decides this was a mistake and wants out. While unlikely, it's not entirely out of the question that this could be a wonderful, loving marriage for the two of them.

[James]

Locking her down would've kept her from marrying the coach. If she runs away with him, then I'm sure he could get in trouble for not sending her back.

[Testm0nkey]

you can lock down a kid and not have it mentally screw them up. the relationship obviously is more screwy to her than that would have been.

you can definitely stop a kid from sneaking around behind your back and still be a good parent. the first step is i hope they at least took her phone away

if you are 16 and think you met the love of your life and theres no one else out there you probably arent the most emotionally mature person. and that definitely doesnt make for a healthy marriage

[knucklehead]

I'd have gone for the mom

milfcakes

[GOB]

yeah i'd do the mom

[Testm0nkey]

how are you guys seeing a pic of the moms? i wanna see

edit: found it!

[James]

Share it?

[Testm0nkey]

its in the video clip.
the video shows pictures but the article is practically a transcript of it

how the hell do those parents not think to change schools? theres got to be another school within at least 40miles.

[woody]

it's like a true porn story

[jwttu]

wow i didnt think this was legal, even with parental consent. i learn new things everyday