SC teacher sent to prison for 6 years for sex with students
February 19, 2008 – 3:05 pmLAURENS, S.C. — A former middle school teacher was sent to prison for six years Tuesday for having sexual encounters with five teenage boys.Allenna Ward, 24, tearfully asked the rural community to forgive her.
“I apologize from the depths of my heart,” Ward said in court.
Arrest warrants said Ward met 14- and 15-year-old boys at the school where she taught as well as at a motel, a park and behind a restaurant.
Some of the victims’ families attended the sentencing but did not speak during the court hearing.
“I just feel like justice has been served,” the sister of one victim said after the hearing.
The Associated Press does not normally identify victims of sexual crimes.
Police began investigating last year after school officials found a note believed to have been written by Ward to one of the boys. Some of the victims were students at Bell Street Middle School in Clinton, where Ward taught. The teacher was fired about one year ago.
Ward pleaded guilty in September to three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and three lewd acts on a minor.
She was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for each lewd act count, but the punishments were suspended to six years. She also was sentenced to six years on each second-degree criminal sexual conduct count. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Ward’s attorney didn’t want to speak to a reporter after the hearing.
Ward is one of two Laurens County teachers that has been sent to prison. Wendie Ann Schweikert, a former elementary school teacher, was sentenced in June to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to having sex with an 11-year-old student.
Source: Myrtlebeachonline
8 Responses to “SC teacher sent to prison for 6 years for sex with students”
I am absolutely stunned that a female teacher got 6 years for sexual misconduct with 5 boys aged 14-15-16… if a man had done the same thing, would the courts have been as lenient on him?
By Vicki on Feb 19, 2008
Of course not. Men are usually sent away for a lot longer. What I don;t understand are the poor people who get sent away and registered as sex offenders for having sex with someone that is 16 or 17. Come on. How many people do you know had sex at that age?
By Jparenti on Feb 20, 2008
CNN reported:
“Forensic psychiatrist Donna Schwartz-Watts said Ward is not a pedophile, but rather a childlike victim suffering from personality disorders and a repressed childhood. Schwartz-Watts said the minister’s daughter lived a sheltered life but really was a “free spirit” who never got a chance to break away from her family.”
Good lord what a load of bunk. I don’t think I’ve ever seen candy coating this thick.
CNN reports:
Authorities said Allenna Ward, 24, met 14- and 15-year-old boys at the school where she taught as well as at a motel, a park and behind a restaurant.
What, they didn’t catch her in the school restrooms, playground,teachers lounge. How many did she keep after class for tutoring?
By Randy on Feb 20, 2008
What an outrage. She should have received the same prison sentence as a male teacher convicted of the same offense. Not only is this a breech of trust for the teenagers entrusted into her care, but it is also downright sexual exploration of a minor. What kind of a crazy justice system do we have that punishes female-initiated pederasty less than that of male-initiated pederasty???
By GeorgeM829 on Feb 20, 2008
Why is it that we only are informed of the tittilating sex between innocent school boys and their young female teachers ? I would like to know why the truth about the male sexual predators in our school systems, and their victims, boys and girls, are kept from us.
By Mike Neal on Feb 20, 2008
THIS IS RIDICULOUS. WHEN I WAS 14 AND IN SCHOOL, IT WAS EVERY YOUNG BOY’S FANTASY TO HAVE SEX WITH HIS FEMALE TEACHER. SHE HAS A PROBLEM, BUT 6 YEARS.. VERY EXCESSIVE
By TOATS on Feb 20, 2008
I am so sick of women getting lighter sentence than men when it come to child molestation and rape. It is ridiculous. I don’t care if it is every teenage boy fantasy to have sex with a teacher. Children cannot deal with the emotional baggage that comes along with sexual acts, especially when it involves the other person being an adult.
By Nancy on Feb 20, 2008
Woman want to be equal to men, they want the same opportunities, they want to be CEO’s and Presidents (of the USA even!) yet when it comes to crime, they want to be treated like innocent sexy young girl who is actually the victim. FRY HER ASS! Set an example! Welcome to the REAL WORLD WOMEN!
By Anon on Feb 20, 2008