Former Theatre Teacher Sentenced to 33 years in Prison on Child Exploitation Crimes

A former GA drama teacher has been sentenced to serve over three decades in prison.

Michael Allen Dendy was sentenced to 400 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. Dendy will also be required to register as a child sex offender upon his release from federal prison.

On July 30, 2024, Dendy pled guilty in federal court to one count of production of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography.

Court documents state Dendy admitted to obtaining inappropriate images of minors at Washington County High School, communicating with students using fake Instagram accounts. Dendy admitted to “Catfishing” his students, pretending to be young males or females on social media service Instagram and convincing the students to share nude photos and videos. He admitted he'd done this since 2016 while working at another school in MS.

Operating under the username, “TheOneYouLeftBehind,” Dendy then shared the photos and videos on the messaging service Discord in a group called "WACO Confessions" that he created.

When victim’s photos leaked, both they said they went to the same person: Michael Allen Dendy.

“He was the first person I talked to when it happened, and he looked at me, and he said that 'Some people were just evil' or something along those lines,” the victim said. “And I really want to know if that’s what he thinks of himself – or if he thinks of anything.”

According to the United States Attorney’s Office Middle District of Georgia, Dendy taught at three schools previously. These include Griffin High School in Griffin, Ga. from 2018-2020; St. Charles High School in Waldorf, Md., from 2017-2018; and Starkville High School in Starkville, Miss., from 2014-2016.

“We are committed to holding people like Michael Allen Dendy accountable to the fullest extent of the law for monstrously preying on adolescents, in this case tricking minors to send him explicit images and uploading them online for other predators to view,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “I am thankful for our law enforcement partners who are dedicated to protecting the innocent and bringing child predators to justice.”

During the trial, victims of Dendy’s acts spoke out.

"What would lead this man to commit such horrible things?" one victim asked. "And I come to the conclusion it is because he's a coward, he’s disgusting and he’s evil."

She added, "Everyone makes mistakes, but I was a child — and he exploited me."