Former teacher sentenced to 20 years for sodomy

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - A former Madison County private school teacher will spend the next 20 years in prison.

In June, a jury found Brett Naff guilty on two counts of sodomy. A former student brought allegations against Naff in 2012. He worked as a teacher at The Country Day School in Huntsville.

Naff told the courtroom he was innocent of the charges at his sentencing hearing on Friday, that he didn't commit the crimes, and asked the judge for her mercy prior to her reading the sentence.

The Madison County courtroom was standing room only prior to Naff's sentencing hearing. Supporters of Naff and the victim's family both submitted letters to the judge prior to sentencing. The victim's parents ended their letter with "Our true feelings - we hope he burns in hell. We were duped by him, as were a lot of people."

During Friday's hearing, a parent of a former student of Naff told the court the former middle school teacher helped transform his daughter into a college bound student. A former student told the court Naff and his family opened their arms to him and helped turn him into the man he is today. The victim and her family did not speak at the sentencing.

At trial, the victim testified about multiple sexual encounters with Naff and explicit text messages she received from the former middle school teacher. The victim told the court she didn't report the sex abuse until years later because she didn't think she wouldn't be able to return to the private school or play soccer.

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