CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A former volleyball coach at the Richmond Christian School will serve no jail time after being convicted of engaging in a sexual relationship with a student.

Elisabeth “Rose” Bredemeier pleaded guilty after admitting that she was involved with a student in 2021. Her defense attorney Kevin Schork told 8News, the result was a “hard one to swallow.”

Bredemeier has been sentenced to five years with all of those years suspended. She was convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child by a person in a custodial or supervisory relationship. She received five years of probation and will have to register as a sex offender.

Bredemeier was arrested on Aug. 14, 2021, after a brief relationship with a student. She was 20 years old at the time and the underage victim was 17.

8News’ legal analyst, Russ Stone, says the decision may prove to be divisive.

“It’s certainly a harsh one [sentence] for the defendant, but there are many people that may feel that it’s not harsh enough,” Stone said. “Every case is different. And the lawyers for the prosecution, the lawyers for the defense, they hammered out everything and they felt this was an agreement that they could all live with.”

According to court records, the relationship between Bredemeier and the student happened between March 1 and July 31 of 2021. Schork said there were at least two sexual encounters.

Schork told 8News, Bredemeier contacted the school’s headmaster, Dr. Clifton Williams, and confessed. She also resigned.

Schork said Bredemeier allegedly told the underage student to tell her parents.

According to the defense, Bredemeier was groomed, herself, in the 10th grade when she began a relationship with her then-volleyball coach, Tara Dooker. Drooker was in her 20s at the time of the relationship.

Schork said the relationship lasted through Bredemeier’s school year for two years and continued after graduation. According to Schork, it was this confession that led to Drooker’s arrest.

Drooker plead guilty to four counts in 2022, including one count of misdemeanor sexual battery of a minor and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She received a sentence of 12 months. All 12 were suspended on the condition that she would enter supervised probation. She was also required to complete individual counseling, have no unsupervised contact with children, register as a sex offender and undergo a “sexual history polygraph.”

The former Headmaster of Richmond Christian School — 66-year-old Dr. Clifton Williams — was also convicted of failing to report sexual abuse in a timely manner.

Williams was arrested in August of 2021. Following an interview with Chesterfield police on Aug. 16, 2021, it was found that he had “failed to make the appropriate mandated notifications” about Bredemeier’s alleged offense. He was sentenced to ten days in jail and issued a $500 fine. His jail time was also suspended.

Schork told 8News he’s disappointed with Bredemeier’s felony conviction because she was the only one to receive a felony and was also the one who reported the crimes.

In his time as a defense attorney, Schork said he had seen dozens of murder and rape trials, and the outcome of this case seemed “unfair.”

“Rose is the only one to have a felony. Without her honesty none of this would have happened,” Schork said.

Under the agreement, Bredemeier will be required to submit to DNA testing and cannot have any contact with the victim.

8News has reached out to the Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for comment.