Former substitute teacher gets pretrial diversion

A former substitute teacher who police said had sex with a teen he met online will perform community service and undergo sex offender treatment.

Mihirbhai Patel, 25, Franklin, entered the pretrial diversion program and was ordered to complete 24 hours of community service at the county animal shelter, undergo a sex offender evaluation and treatment and pay more than $300 in fines.

If he completes the requirements of the program, his misdemeanor charge will be dismissed, according to court records.

Patel was arrested and charged with patronizing a prostitute last year after police said he paid a teenage boy he met online for sex on two occasions.

Patel had previously worked as a substitute teacher in Franklin schools, but police said the incidents with the teen happened during the summer before last school year.

In September, a student raised concerns about Patel to Franklin Community High School officials, who called police.

The teen who Patel had paid for sex told police they had met online, and he didn’t know Patel’s name. He identified him in a photo lineup and told police he was a substitute teacher at his school, according to police reports. The two had arranged to meet for sex twice, at a Whiteland area motel and a home, and Patel paid the teen, who was between 16 and 18 years old, the reports said.

The day police were called was the last day Patel was a part of the district’s substitute teacher program, school officials had said. Patel had been a substitute for less than a year and had passed a full background check before he was hired.

Patel, 2250 Cedarmill Drive, had been charged with a misdemeanor because, under the law, a teen older than age 16 can consent to sexual activity so Patel did not face charges for sex with a minor.