GEORGIA — Former Georgia teacher admitted in court that she engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old student, but pointed some of the blame on the student, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Therese Gunn, 54, who taught at South Gwinnett High School, told the court that she was sorry but that the student was “like a used car salesman.” Gunn entered the guilty plea and was sentenced to 90 days in prison and will be on probation for 10 years.
The request by Gunn’s lawyer to place her on house arrest instead was denied by the judge.
“I don’t find that you’re the kind of person that needs to be warehoused for years,” Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Warren Davis reportedly said. “We get those cases and we get them out of society as long as we can. You’re not one of those. But you clearly betrayed the trust that you had of parents, this parent, putting this child in your care.”
Under Georgia law, any sexual contact between someone with a supervisory role is illegal, even if the encounter is consensual, the report said. The student in this case told the court that Gunn “made [his] adolescence a living hell.”
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the relationship came to light after the student’s mother found his journal and reported the relationship to police.
The Atlanta Journal Constituion reports that Gwinnett County police said they had “discovered that the teacher hosted a party at her home in Grayson.”
“During the party, the teacher allowed the 17-year-old and two other female students to smoke marijuana under her direct supervision,” said police.
According to the detective, the teacher smoked marijuana as well.
