On Friday, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge issued a 16-year prison sentence to Ricky Ordway, a former elementary
school teacher in Peoria, who had been found guilty of various counts of assault and attempted child molestation. In addition, Ordway will receive credit for 159 days served and will be on probation for life as well as have to register as a sex offender.
In May 2019, Ordway, a fifth-grade computer science teacher at Sun Valley Elementary, was detained after being accused of inappropriately touching an 11-year-old girl. Upon further investigation, Ordway was charged with carrying out offences against 13 students. He was charged with a total of 30 counts of offences, comprising of child molestation, attempted molestation and aggravated assault.
This May, a jury convicted Ordway of eight counts of aggravated assault and three counts of attempted child molestation, but acquitted him on 17 other charges. Two more charges were dismissed prior to the trial.