Washington County High School teacher will serve 30-plus years in child porn case

A former Washington County High School theater teacher will serve more than 33 years in prison for possessing and sharing explicit pictures and videos of students.

Michael Allen Dendy, from Milledgeville, was sentenced Thursday after he pleaded guilty to producing and distributing child pornography on July 30. He appeared in front of Judge Marc Treadwell for his sentencing Thursday afternoon, with two victims, their families and his family sitting in the gallery.

Federal sentencing guidelines initially indicated Dendy would serve 50 years Catherine Williams, Dendy's attorney, and prosecutor Daniel Peach argued for a lesser sentence. Williams requested a little over 19 years in prison while Peach requested 40 years.

"No one is asking to slap his hand and send him home," Williams said.

She argued similar cases have resulted in less significant sentences. Dendy never had physical sexual contact with victims, Williams said.

He confessed when he was arrested on Jan. 20, 2023, that he used fake social media profiles and obtained nude images of underage students from Washington County High School, according to court documents and testimony.

Dendy apologized, even though he acknowledged that his apology wouldn't mean much to the people he hurt and that his actions were wrong. In prison, he would "atone in some way for my actions," Dendy said Thursday.

"The difficult is possible," Dendy said.

Peach agreed that Dendy confessed when he was arrested, but he only admitted to having images of three minors. When investigators were given access to his computer, phone and USB drive, they found roughly 80,000 sexually explicit images of 17 minors which were collected over more than five years, prosecutors said.

"Dendy took advantage of his position of trust and exploited many children," Peach said. "He never laid a hand, but they have been victimized."

'He exploited me like I wasn't even human'

Two victims who attended his theater classes at Washington County High School spoke about their experiences with him as a teacher and the aftermath of their images leaking. They both shared how they trusted him, saw him as a mentor and how they could never trust anyone again thanks to Dendy.

One of them shared that when she realized screenshots of her explicit images were seen by the school, and realized it was Dendy who leaked them, she felt "he betrayed me and others."

"He exploited me like I wasn't even human," the first victim said.

The second victim recalled when her explicit images got leaked, she was in disbelief. She broke down in her sister's arms upon the realization they were leaked. When she realized it was Dendy who leaked them, "it hit me real bad," she said.

But when she saw him for the first time in years in court, she said, "I forgive you."

"What a tragic case this is," Treadwell said before issuing his sentence.

He also saidvictims, their families and his own family carry scars for the rest of their lives.

Treadwell sentenced Dendy to 25 years for one of his criminal counts and eight years for another. Dendy won't pay restitution or a fine. Once he leaves prison, he will serve 10 years of supervised release.

Dendy taught at Washington County High School from 2020 until 2023, after his arrest by the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Before that, he taught at Starkville High School in Starkville, Mississippi, from 2014 to 2016, St. Charles High School in Waldorf, Maryland, from 2017 to 2018 and Griffin High School in Georgia from 2018 to 2020.