Former CBA teacher takes Alford plea in sex offense case

For the second time in four months, a former Wayne County educator took an Alford plea to avoid a potential prison sentence for sex offenses alleged by a female student.

Keith Gerald Woodard III, who was employed as an English teacher at Charles B. Aycock High School until his resignation in 2020, acknowledged that there was sufficient evidence for a judge or jury to convict him, but did not admit guilt.

The charges listed under the plea as “guilty pursuant to Alford” include:

• 4 felony charges of taking indecent liberties with a student

• 1 felony charge of attempted sexual activity with a student

• 2 felony charges of sexual activity with a student

Had he been convicted of those charges, he would have faced a maximum of 229 months in prison.

Instead, he was sentenced to 36 months of supervised probation and must register as a sex offender for “a period of 30 years, with an opportunity to petition in Superior Court to shorten the registration time period after 10 years.”

Woodard was placed on leave by Wayne County Public Schools in October 2019, but remained on the district’s payroll until he resigned in April 2020. His arrest in October 2020 marked the culmination of an investigation that began when a former CBA student alleged she had a sexual relationship with him in 2015.

Two months before Woodard was put on leave by WCPS, another CBA teacher, Ryder Webb, was arrested for having “improper sexual contact” with a 15-year-old student.

Woodard’s Alford plea is the second involving a former Wayne County educator this year. In February, Warren Riley admitted that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him on charges he molested two 11-year-old girls at Faith Christian Academy in the mid-1990s.