Former Peoria teacher sentenced to 16 years in prison

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — A former elementary school teacher in Peoria has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison after he was convicted of multiple counts of assault and attempted child molestation. On Friday, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge sentenced 48-year-old Ricky Ordway to 16 years, with credit for 159 days served. He will also be on probation for life and will have to register as a sex offender.

Ordway was a fifth-grade computer science teacher at Sun Valley Elementary who was arrested in May of 2019 for allegedly touching an 11-year-old girl inappropriately. After further investigation, Ordway was charged with crimes involving 13 students. He faced a total of 30 counts of crimes, including child molestation, attempted molestation and aggravated assault.

In May of this year, a jury found Ordway guilty of eight counts of aggravated assault and three counts of attempted child molestation. He was found not guilty of 17 charges. Two charges had previously been dropped.

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