Student-Sex Teacher Gets 5 Years
Former Brevard Co. Middle School Teacher Caught In Van With Boy
POSTED: Thursday, July 9, 2009
UPDATED: 7:07 pm EDT July 9,
2009
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TITUSVILLE, Fla. -- A former Brevard County middle school teacher who pleaded guilty to having sex with a student was sentenced to five years in jail Thursday morning in Titusville.
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Former Jackson Middle School teacher Janet Lea Florence, 34, cried and was led from the courtroom in handcuffs after Circuit Judge Jack Griesbaum rendered the sentence. She faced one to six years in prison at her sentencing at the Titusville Historic Courthouse.During the sentencing, Florence apologized to the family of the boy she admitted to having sex with."I just want to apologize to everybody whose life I negatively affected by my actions. I know there's nothing I can do to change the past," Florence said.Florence said she hopes to return home to her four children after she serves her time in prison.The boy's family said they are devastated by the incident and their son has been damaged."We don't trust school staffing anymore," the boy's mother said."My son was a happy child. In the past two years, he has quit school, started to smoke cigarettes, drink…tattooed his body," the boy's father said.Florence -- named in court documents as Janet Lea Hughes -- was recently divorced and reverted to her maiden name, according to court records obtained by Local 6 News partner Florida Today.Florence was arrested in April 2007 after authorities said undercover police officers meeting at a Titusville church to discuss an unrelated case caught Florence, then 32, and a 16-year-old boy lying on a blanket in a van parked outside the building.Officers determined that the two were about to have sex, and authorities said the two admitted to previously having sex.Florence would have faced up to 45 years in prison if she had been convicted at trial on one count each of sexual battery and attempted sexual battery on a child.Florence struck a plea bargain on the charges in May and has been free, pending sentencing.She will be labeled as a sexual predator for the rest of her life under the terms of the deal, which also stipulates 10 years of probation, during which she must wear a GPS-monitoring bracelet.She won't be allowed near schools or parks and will have to register her address with police four times a year. Copyright 2009 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and ClickOrlando.com.
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