A South Hutchinson woman who posted comments on Facebook falsely suggesting a Nickerson teacher was a child predator -- while the educator was actually providing foster care for the woman’s son -- was convicted Monday in an online harassment case that may be one of the first of its kind in the nation.

Court records show the teen was removed from Wadkins’s home last year, after he was charged in juvenile court with one count of aggravated assault for threatening his step-father with a knife. The teen subsequently pleaded to a reduced charge of misdemeanor assault.

The teacher, after learning of the teen’s placement, offered to be a foster parent.

The charges accused Wadkins of posting a photo of the teacher March 22 on Facebook, along with the question “TEACHER OR PREDATOR?” on March 22. Wadkins then made a second Facebook post April 15, again with the teachers’ photo, stating “I TAKE TEEN BOYS HOME WITH ME.”

“The charge required we show she knowingly subjected the victim to public hatred,” said Reno County Assistant District Attorney Dan Gilligan. “She claimed, though she didn’t send it to a specific person, that she was just trying to communicate with friends, and that it was free speech.”

The student testified he believed that the posting was vindictive because he was happy in the teacher’s home.