Teacher jailed for 20 years after sexually abusing schoolgirl, 14

A teacher jailed 20 years after sexually abusing a schoolgirl was finally exposed by a shirtless snap and a receipt for underwear.

Stephanie (left) got justice 20 years after being raped by her teache. Picture: Instagram/stephanie.langlitz

Warning: Distressing

A woman who was sexually abused by her teacher at age 14 has revealed how she got justice 20 years later using receipts for underwear he’d bought her and a stash of secret photos.

Stephanie Langlitz was groomed by her former Spanish teacher, Mark Lindrud, then 30, into a two-year “relationship” that began in 2002.

It was only in 2017, when she became a single mum to her three-year-old son, the severity of what had occurred finally sunk in.

Despite the abuse happening two decades earlier, Stephanie still had “keepsakes” from their time together, including receipts for underwear he’d bought her, as well cinema tickets and photographs.

On June 30, 2022, Lindrud, 50, was convicted of 20 counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of sexual abuse of a minor, according to a report by PEOPLE.

He was subsequently sentenced to 66 years in prison.

Stephanie Langlitz got justice 20 years after being sexually abused by her Spanish teacher. Picture: Instagram/stephanie.langlitz

“He [Lindrud] built what felt like a friendship, disclosing personal information about himself,” she told the publication.

“It completely skewed my perception of what a relationship is and should be, and that took me many years to recognise.”

In a recent interview with The Sun, the now 36-year-old explained the first time Lindrud – who had lied and told Stephanie he was 26 – had first inappropriately touched her, she “froze”.

“After telling my parents I was going to meet a friend, I nervously walked over to a park near my house where we’d agreed to meet,” she said.

“It was still light and the park was busy, but he embraced and kissed me.

“I froze, completely blindsided.

“He wrapped my legs around him and carried me across to a bench where he put his hands up my shirt and down my shorts.”

The schoolgirl was groomed into a ‘relationship’ at age 14 by Mark Lindrud, then 30. Picture: Instagram/stephanie.langlitz

Lindrud was jailed for 66 years in 2022 after being found guilty of 21 charges of child sex abuse. Picture: Instagram/stephanie.langlitz

Stephanie said her “body and brain shut down” and she was able to remove herself from the situation. But the next day, he “acted as if nothing had happened”, and continued messaging her.

“I didn’t know that I’d just been assaulted,” she explained.

“In my shock and confusion, I thought what had happened meant he really liked me.

“And not wanting either of us to get into trouble, I didn’t tell anyone.”

She agreed to meet up with him again and eventually Lindrud asked her to join him for “make-out sessions” and other sex acts in his car, which he had often parked outside her house.

“I thought he was giving love,” she told Yahoo News.

Within a few months, Lindrud had convinced the schoolgirl to “have sex” with him, and took her back to his apartment.

Stephanie, now 31, was able to provide police with evidence that proved he’d groomed her, including photos of them together during the two-year period of abuse. Picture: Instagram/stephanie.langlitz

Despite the fact Stephanie thought she was in a blossoming romance with her teacher, Lindrud insisted she couldn’t tell anyone, telling the schoolgirl “his life would be over”.

“It was so confusing to be with my ‘boyfriend’ Mark in a parked car in the evening, then spend Spanish lessons pretending Mr Lindrud was nothing more than my teacher,” she told The Sun.

“He completely isolated me.”

On one occasion Stephanie told a friend she was “dating” Lindrud, which led to her being called into a meeting at school, where she denied any involvement.

“We were believed, but that didn’t stop the rumours and I became even more isolated” she explained.

“When the academic year ended, Mark left the school, spooked by the rumours that never died down.

“But our relationship continued and he started introducing me to his friends and parents as his ‘19-year-old girlfriend’.”

‘I didn’t know that I’d just been assaulted,’ Stephanie said, of the first time Lindrud touched her in a park. Picture: Instagram/stephanie.langlitz

However, everything came to an abrupt end when Stephanie, then 16, was at his house alone one day and uncovered his birth certificate.

“He hadn’t been 26 when we’d met like he’d said – he’d been 30, which made him 16 years older than I was,” she shared.

“When Mark returned home, I confronted him.

“He began crying hysterically, saying he loved me and wanted us to get married.

“I ended the relationship there and then but I still didn’t realise that what I’d been through was abuse.”

Fast forward to 2017, and following the breakdown of a relationship, Stephanie embarked on therapy – and it unlocked the secrets of her past.

After a relationship break down, Stephanie began therapy, which unlocked the traumas of her past. Picture: Instagram/stephanie.langlitz

“The first thing I said to my psychiatrist was, ‘Well, I had a relationship with a teacher when I was 14,’ ” she told PEOPLE.

The psychiatrist responded by telling her that was legally sex abuse, adding she was required to report it to authorities.

The conversation prompted Stephanie to look up Lindrud where she discovered he was still teaching and “felt sick to my stomach”.

She decided then to finally report what happened to the police.

“One of the ways I was able to prove the ‘relationship’ with the teacher were these photos,” she wrote on Instagram alongside a snap showing negatives from an undeveloped film roll.

“The time stamps on them confirmed I would have been 14, he was 31.

“Why else would a 14-year-old student have shirtless photos of her teacher?”

‘One of the ways I was able to prove the “relationship” with the teacher were these shirtless photos.’ Picture: Instagram/stephanie.langlitz

She’s now an advocate for other sexual abuse survivors. Picture: Instagram/stephanie.langlitz

She also had receipts for underwear he’d bought her and tickets from outings to the cinema they’d been on together.

After a police investigation, which saw Lindrud arrested in Colorado and extradited to stand trial in Arizona, he was found guilty of 21 charges and sentenced to 66 years in prison.

Stephanie now advocates for other sexual abuse survivors, regularly posting inspiring and empowering messages on Instagram with the hopes of helping others.

“I still feel like so much of my pivotal teen years were stolen from me, but it’s my mission to help other survivors of trauma,” she posted recently.

“Teenage me grew up way too fast. There are soooo many things I would say to the teenage Steph, but for right now all I’m gonna say is, ‘The 35-year-old me’s gotchu, boo’.”