Former North Cobb High School Coach Gets Prison Time for Sexting Student

Credit: Cobb County Sheriff’s Office

A former coach at North Cobb High School will be going to prison after he pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a 2013 sexting incident with a student, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

In March of 2013, Ryne Thomas Thackston, 30, exchanged sexually explicit pictures with a 17-year-old girl he coached on the school’s track team. Both parties involved had sent inappropriate images of themselves to one another, the DA’s Office said.

On Feb. 11, Thackston pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count of electronically furnishing obscene material to minors. The plea was entered during Thackston’s bench trial.

Thackston’s defense attorney argued at his Tuesday sentencing hearing that he should be placed on probation, but prosecutors wanted to send a message to the school community by putting Thackston behind bars. ADA Hannah Palmquist argued:

Whatever sentence you give, everyone at North Cobb High is going to talk about it – students, parents and educators. This sentence will send a message to high school students about the dangers of the behavior they engage in over electronic media. It will send a message to the people we entrust with the supervision of our children about the accountability that comes with that role. And it will send a message to parents who send their children to school in Cobb County about the consequences we will enforce when that trust is violated.

Cobb Superior Court Judge Stephen Schuster agreed with the prosecution, and Thackston was sentenced to two years in prison and three years on probation.