Former Idaho Teacher Sentenced for Sexually Assaulting Adopted Teen Student

Betrayal of Trust: Teacher Assaults Adopted Student

Jes­si­ca Law­son, a 36-year-old for­mer teacher at South Fre­mont High School in Ida­ho, has been sen­tenced to prison for sex­u­al­ly assault­ing a 16-year-old boy who had just been adopt­ed by a local fam­i­ly just days before the incident.

Charges and Sentencing

Law­son accept­ed a plea deal for felony sex­u­al bat­tery and rape of a minor charges. She will serve 2 to 20 years in prison and must reg­is­ter as a sex offend­er, in addi­tion to attend­ing sex offend­er treat­ment. A no-con­tact order has also been placed against the vic­tim for 20 years.

Substance Abuse and Exploitation

Author­i­ties found that Law­son had giv­en the teen mar­i­jua­na and alco­hol before sex­u­al­ly assault­ing him. The boy was dri­ving Law­son’s car when police pulled them over, with Law­son being “too drunk to drive.”

Victim’s Vulnerable Background

The vic­tim’s adop­tive par­ents expressed how their son, who had been in and out of the fos­ter care sys­tem, was still learn­ing to dif­fer­en­ti­ate between safe and unsafe sit­u­a­tions. They believe Law­son took advan­tage of his vulnerability.

Disparity in Sentencing Perception

The vic­tim’s par­ents felt Law­son would have received a harsh­er sen­tence if she were male or if the vic­tim had been a girl. How­ev­er, the judge denied this, spark­ing fur­ther out­rage over per­ceived inequities in the jus­tice system.