Editor-DN
An Idaho high school teacher has been sentenced to at least two years and up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a minor. Jessica Lawson, 36, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery under a plea agreement, according to court records. As part of the agreement, additional charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor and furnishing a controlled substance were dismissed. The New York Post Reported
Lawson was arrested in November 2023 in St. Anthony, Idaho, after police stopped a car driven by a teenage boy with Lawson in the passenger seat. According to reports by the Idaho State Journal, East Idaho News, and Local News 8, police said Lawson directed the boy to drive because he was highly intoxicated.
The vehicle was initially pulled over for a broken taillight, and the boy allegedly admitted to possessing marijuana. The boy’s parents later informed police that Lawson had picked him up the previous night, and admitted to getting alcohol and marijuana from him before engaging in sexual activity.
Lawson, a former South Fremont High School teacher, will serve at least two years in prison. He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim for 20 years, according to the East Idaho News.
According to East, the father told the court, “It takes a village to raise a young person, especially a young person who has been in and out of foster care, who has never known what it’s like to have a mother and a father. It happens.” Idaho News.
“My son is going to take a long time to heal and he doesn’t even know the injuries he’s sustained. He won’t understand the injuries until he becomes a parent and she has a daughter. Or sends the son home to a parent he trusts.”
The teen’s mother said her time in foster care made her struggle to differentiate between safe and unsafe situations.
“We brought (my son) because he needed someone, and he didn’t have anyone… It was very early that we realized that this is a really great kid, and he’s great. And it should be in our family.” The mother told the court.
“She had a lot of problems because she didn’t have a mom and dad to teach her to recognize safe people. And you took advantage of that… She knew she could get something out of it. “
