Washington Substitute Teacher Gets 15-Year Prison Term for Sex Abuse of Teen

A Washington substitute teacher received a 15-year prison sentence for repeatedly engaging in sexual activity with a 13-year-old student and videotaping the incidents, according to federal prosecutors. The abuse began in February 2021 and continued until July 2022, when the victim was 15, after which his family reported the teacher to police, alleging she manipulated him with gifts. During sentencing, the boy’s mother recounted hearing her son’s midnight cries, and the victim told the court he would no longer be silenced, saying the abuse stole his childhood.

Assistant United States Attorney Ann T. Wick noted that classmates spread gossip, causing the boy to withdraw socially. The defense argued that in the town of Warden, about 2,500 residents, young people often mingle, suggesting the teacher misread the relationship, and a psychologist testified she was not a sexual predator but socially immature. Judge Thomas O. Rice imposed the term, responding to the victim’s sister’s plea for a sentence that signals protection for all children.