Former Special Education Teacher Who Admitted To Having Sex With Students Sentenced To Three Years
A former special education teacher in California has been sentenced to three years in prison for having sex with high school students, KCPQ (Tacoma) is reporting.
Summer Hansen, 32, must also register as a sex offender for life.
Hansen had been a special education teacher at Centennial High School in Corona, California, until her arrest in June 2013, after police received a complaint from the school that she’d had a relationship with a former student.
She would ultimately be charged with 16 felony counts involving sexual contact with five underage male students, including unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, unlawful oral copulation with a minor, and sending harmful matter to a minor. She was accused of having sex with students inside school classrooms, utility rooms, a student’s home, and her own car. She was also accused of sending nude photos of herself to teen students.
None of her victims were her own special education students; rather, they were students she met at Saturday school, according to KABC (Los Angeles).
If convicted of all felony charges, the former special education teacher could have faced 13 years in state prison. Instead, she took a plea deal that will allow her to serve only three years.
At her sentencing, Hansen claimed she’s not a monster.
“From the bottom of my heart, everything that I have, I’m not a monster. I made bad choices in life. For that, I am truly, truly sorry.”
For parents of her victims — some of whom called the former teacher a “whore” and a “predator” — her apologies were not enough. One parent called her punishment a “slap on the wrist.”
“Teaching young impressionable children how to have sex in classrooms, in storage rooms, in cars, these are not the life skills I want my child to learn. Three years is a slap on the wrist for this sexual predator. It is a slap in the face for the victims and their families.”
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Becky Dugan agreed.
“Not just one kid, but multiple kids. That’s a plan. You’re making a plan and continue to do it. I think you are sorry for the last two years, but frankly you’re just sorry that you got caught.”
Do you believe three years in prison is a strong enough sentence for a teacher who admits to having sex with high school students? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
