Jacqueline Ma, a 36-year-old former teacher at Lincoln Acres Elementary School and previously honoured as one of San Diego County's top educators, was sentenced Friday to 30 years to life in state prison for sex crimes against two minors. According to the San Diego Union Tribune, prosecutors stated that Ma groomed two boys and began a sexual relationship with one when he was 12.
Prosecutors said Ma groomed the 12-year-old boy over 10 months, sending him love letters and suggestive texts, which prompted the boy's mother to alert authorities. She sexually assaulted him in her classroom over three months while his parents believed he was in an after-school basketball program. They also alleged that years earlier, Ma groomed an 11-year-old boy. She had groomed young boys with "gifts, food and special attention and even completed their homework for them," the district attorney's office said.
The teacher pleaded guilty in February to two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child, one count of lewd acts on a child and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office said in a news release.
"This defendant violated the trust she had with her students in the most extreme and traumatic way possible, and her actions are despicable. Her victims will have to deal with a lifetime of negative effects, and her 30-year sentence is appropriate," District Attorney Summer Stephan said.
"No child deserves what this defendant did, and I hope this sentence brings a measure of justice to the victims, their families and the community that was left reeling from this defendant's crimes," Mr Stephan added.
At her sentencing, Ma expressed remorse, stating she was "deeply ashamed" and apologised for taking away the children's innocence, acknowledging the harm her actions had caused.
"I abused my authority, I exerted my power and control over them, and I deceived them. Boys this age should be playing outside, feeling carefree … I ripped away their childhood. Instead of following the path of what a teacher should be, I let my selfishness override the boys' best interests. I just pray for an extra hand of protection and strength for all of those I've hurt. I'm so sorry," Ma said while handcuffed and crying in court.
Ma, a former San Diego County "Teacher of the Year" for 2022-2023, taught fifth- and sixth-graders at Lincoln Acres Elementary School in National City before facing controversy.
