At an Oct. 18 sentence hearing, a former Renton High School music teacher and gymnastics coach pleaded guilty to two counts of felony first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor and one count of misdemeanor communication with a minor for immoral purposes.

Nicholas Yale, 32, was initially charged with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor and two counts of communication with a minor for immoral purposes in November 2022, where he had pleaded not guilty. He then entered a guilty plea in September 2024.

Yale was accused of seeking inappropriate relationships with at least three of his now former students, beginning in 2019 and up until he resigned from Renton High School in May 2022. Charging documents at the time cited a pattern, where Yale would tell each girl that he was attracted to them and that he had a sex addiction before sending them sexually explicit text messages.

On May 4, 2022, Renton police were notified that Renton High School was investigating allegations made against Yale. The police report, written by Detective Robert Onishi, said that two girls — a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old — were both students of Yale’s.

Yale and the 17-year-old were texting for a couple of days before she decided to tell the 15-year-old about what was happening, to which the younger girl said that she and Yale had also exchanged texts a month earlier. The two girls then told school administrators, which led to Yale being put on leave and Renton Police opening an investigation.

During the investigation, police found that while Yale was texting the 15-year-old and the 17-year-old, he was living with a 19-year-old former student.

Yale began texting the 19-year-old in December 2019 when she was a student at Renton High School and their relationship became physical in January 2021. The 19-year-old then moved in with Yale in February, four months before she graduated from Renton High. When the 19-year-old learned why Yale had been put on leave from the school, their relationship ended.

Sentence hearing

Two years later, the three victims and one family member gave personal statements during the sentence hearing, either in-person, over Zoom, or in a letter to the court.

“For the past two years, I’ve been trying to heal myself from what you did, trying not to blame myself, trying to be okay with myself, and trying to love myself. But even two years after being safe and away from you, I’m still haunted by what you did to me, you will never know the real pain you caused me,” said the former student who had moved in with Yale.

“Our family has been torn apart by this unimaginable situation,” said the family member, who added that the victims should have been protected by their coach and teacher.

The third statement came from the former student who was 15 when Yale began sending her explicit messages. She now lives in another state.

“I blamed myself for a very long time,” she said. “I will never be the same person.”

The final statement was from the former student who is now 19 years old. She spoke about how Yale was the first teacher to be patient with her in class and to help her when she was a freshman at Renton High School.

“I thought I could trust you to be my teacher and not my predator,” she said. “You took a lot from me, including my friends and even my relationship, you took my body image and how I perceived myself. Despite all this, I have been happier than I have in the last two years. I feel free and I can live my life knowing I don’t need to be afraid of you. I hope you know however much time you have [in prison] will never be enough for the pain and suffering my family went through. I do wish you the best, but I will never forgive you.”

The sentencing

Yale gave his own statement to the court, saying that he felt remorse and that he was sorry for his actions, adding that he has been in treatment. “It is my sincerest hope that given time, the victims and their families will be able to find healing, recover lost trust, and be able to step forward into lives of meaning and happiness,” he said.

The judge sentenced Yale to 20 months in prison for the first account of felony first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor and 12 months for the second felony account, which will be served concurrently totalling 20 months, which begins immediately.

Yale was also sentenced to 364 days in King County Jail (with credit for time served of 40 days) on the third count of misdemeanor communication with a minor for immoral purposes. This sentencing will begin in 24 months.

He is to have no contact with the three victims, have no further criminal law violations, must enter and successfully complete a sexual deviancy program, submit to DNA, register as a sex offender, must not hold any position of authority or trust involving minor,s and he must have no contact with minors except under supervision of responsible adults aware of the court order and other restrictions.