United States: She abuses a student then makes him drive because she is drunk

A 37-year-old teacher will spend at least two years behind bars for sexually assaulting a teenager last year. This sentence could go up to 20 years if the authorities believe that conditional release is not justified. The authorities discovered the actions of Jessica Lawson somewhat by chance, on November 6, 2023 in Saint Anthony (Idaho). In the early morning, police officers stopped a 16-year-old young man who was driving a car whose headlights were not on.

When officers determined the vehicle belonged to Jessica Lawson, the teen told them she asked him to drive because she was too drunk. The young man was in possession of marijuana during this check, specifies East Idaho News. The police then took the teenager home. The next morning, the boy’s parents told investigators that their son had grown up in homes and that they had just adopted him a few days earlier.

They then claimed that on the evening of November 5, Jessica Lawson secretly picked up the teenager at 11 p.m. and took him to her home. According to the couple, the teacher drank alcohol and used drugs with their adopted son, before raping him. Initially, the 30-year-old pleaded not guilty to rape of a person aged 16 or 17, criminal delivery of a controlled substance and distribution of alcohol to a minor.

But as part of a settlement with the prosecutor reached in August, she ended up pleading guilty to sexual assault. In court, Jessica Lawson apologized to her victim and her family, while explaining that “a toxic relationship lasting 15 years” was at the origin of her actions. This argument left Judge Stephen Dunn unmoved: “Frankly, there is not a single one of these cases in which I have not had a woman in front of me (…) who has not told me a similar story about an abusive marriage and low self-esteem,” he replied.

For his part, the victim’s father highlighted the harm that the teacher had done to a young man with an already difficult background. “The education of a young man requires the help of everyone. Especially when it comes to a young man who was repeatedly placed in foster care and never knew what it was like to have a mother and father. My son will take a long time to heal and he doesn’t even know what his injuries are yet,” he lamented.

Are you already following us on WhatsApp?