Nebraska teacher pleads guilty to sex with student, 13

Neb. teacher pleads guilty to sex with student, 13

By ANNA JO BRATTON Associated Press Writer
Posted: Jul. 2, 2008
OMAHA, Neb. — A former teacher pleaded guilty Wednesday to fleeing to Mexico with a 13-year-old student so she could have sex with him. Her plea was part of a deal to ensure she'll spend less than a decade in federal prison.
Kelsey Peterson, 26, cried in court and shook her head when the prosecutor said she started having sex with the boy when he was 12 years old and a student at Lexington Middle School, where she taught.
But the former math teacher pleaded guilty to a charge of transporting a minor across state lines to have sex, and avoided a similar charge that would have carried a mandatory 10-year minimum sentence.
The plea agreement calls for a sentence of at least 70 months in prison, up to a maximum of 87 months. The judge could decide on a different sentence, but that would give Peterson the right to change her plea, said federal prosecutor Jan Sharp. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for September.
Her family burst out of the court room Wednesday shouting at reporters, telling them to "ask (the victim) how old he is," and saying Peterson is being unjustly accused.
Peterson's attorney, James Martin Davis, has publicly questioned the boy's birth certificate. Davis said the boy was likely at least 16, and that he was the aggressor.
Amy Peck, an attorney for the boy and his family, said that suggestion was disgusting.
"He was a 12-year-old boy and the defendant knew it," Peck said Wednesday. "The result of this lower plea could have been obtained without playing to every racial stereotype that there is."
Peterson taught the boy during the 2005 to 2006 school year, then started having sex with him in November 2006, according to court documents.
The pair disappeared in October, soon after the district's superintendent confronted Peterson about allegations of an inappropriate relationship with the boy, then 13.
She was arrested a week later in Mexicali, Mexico.
In an interview to be aired Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America," the boy, who is now 14, said Peterson cried and told him she loved him when they were discovered by authorities in Mexico.
He said he told Peterson he loved her, too. He's now living in Nebraska with his parents, although his attorney wouldn't say where.
A portion of the interview was aired Wednesday on the local ABC affiliate, KETV.
The guilty plea doesn't mean Peterson is off the hook on state charges, which include kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault. Her attorney said he hoped those charges would be dropped.
But Dawson County Attorney Elizabeth Waterman said Wednesday there are no plans to drop the state charges.
"Right now she's charged with what she's charged with," Waterman said. "The nature of any type of deal, I don't want to speculate on that."
Peterson likely won't be brought back to Dawson County to face state charges until after the federal sentencing, Waterman said.
The Associated Press previously named the boy as police were searching for him but stopped using his name after authorities charged Peterson with a sex crime.
He was an illegal immigrant in the United States when he left with Peterson. He's now back in Nebraska temporarily after being granted humanitarian parole by the Department of Homeland Security.
Peck said she plans to ask the U.S. attorney's office for a visa that could put the boy and his parents on the path to citizenship.
The "U" visa is designed for victims of certain crimes and their families and needs the backing of someone involved with prosecuting, investigating or judging the case.
"We have not been promised anything at this point," Peck said.
Said U.S. Attorney Joe Stecher: "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
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U.S. District Court, Nebraska: http://www.ned.uscourts.gov/
Dawson County: http://www.dawsoncountyne.net/