A now-former high school math teacher in Pulaski County, Missouri, who admitted to having rough sex with a 16-year-old student got a sweetheart deal in the case.
On Friday, the woman, identified as 26-year-old Hailey Clifton-Carmack, was sentenced to four years behind bars, the New York Post reported on Tuesday.
However, that sentence could be suspended depending on if the divorced mother of two children completes a rehabilitation program for sex offenders.
“Circuit Judge John Beger said he would check up on her progress in rehab in three months — and release the disgraced teacher on probation if she has done well,” the outlet said.
The former math teacher who worked at Laquey High School pleaded guilty in September after being accused of committing criminal acts with the student while other teenagers acted as “lookouts,” Breitbart News reported.
She was arrested in January when a student alerted police to the inappropriate relationship she apparently had with the victim. The student gave photos of scratches Clifton-Carmack allegedly left on the boy’s back while they engaged in sex in the witness’s driveway.
Her guilty plea meant she would avoid charges including statutory rape, child molestation, and child endangerment.
In January, authorities charged the victim’s father for allegedly letting his teenage son have sex with the now-former teacher, per Breitbart News.According to the recent Post article, the boy’s father was identified as Mark Creighton:
Creighton “knew of the relationship of his minor child and the 26-year-old teacher, and instead of reporting the information, he continued to cover for them and allowed the relationship to continue” and “even allowed Hailey to come over to his residence and see the victim while he was present,” prosecutors said.
He also reportedly told a witness he would lie for his son if he had to.
It is important to note that the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) website says the majority of those who commit child sexual abuse are persons the child or family knows.
“A perpetrator does not have to be an adult to harm a child. They can have any relationship to the child including an older sibling or playmate, family member, a teacher, a coach or instructor, a caretaker, or the parent of another child,” the site reads.
