Former teacher pleads guilty to sex crimes involving teenage student, SC officials say
A former teacher at a high school in South Carolina has pleaded guilty to a sex crime involving a teenage student.
The South Carolina Attorney General’s Office said Anna Elizabeth Jeanette Patton, 23, pleaded guilty to sexual assault on a student 16 or 17-years-old, WPDE reported.
Patton was originally charged with sexual battery with a student 16 or 17 years of age, no aggravated force or coercion; criminal solicitation of a minor; and disseminating harmful material or exhibiting harmful performance to minors, jail records show.
She could have spent a maximum of five years in prison on the sexual battery charge she pleaded guilty to, according to South Carolina law.
Instead, Patton will serve 30 days in jail after her five-year prison sentence was suspended by Judge Paul Burch, Darlington County court records show. Her sentence will begin on July 1, and also includes 42 months of probation, according to court records.
Patton was credited with one day of time served, and can complete the remaining 29 days of her sentence during a weekend program held every other week to meet a work schedule, court records show.
While solicitation and harmful material/harmful performance charges are still pending from the Attorney General’s Office, court records show a charge of disseminating obscene material to person under 18 was not prosecuted.
The investigation began Jan. 11, 2020, when a concerned parent contacted the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office. The parent said Patton, a teacher at Lamar High School, had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student, according to the South Carolina Board of Education.
From Oct. 1, 2019, through Jan. 11, 2020, Patton committed sexually-related crimes, according to arrest warrants from the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office.
In addition to having sex with the student, the Florence woman sent the teen messages with sexually explicit material, arrest warrants show.
Patton used different social media accounts to send nude images to the student, and also sent texts to entice the teen to have sex, according to arrest warrants.
Following her arrest, Patton was placed on administrative leave by the Darlington County School District, according to the South Carolina Board of Education.
On Jan. 14, 2020, the South Carolina Board of Education suspended Patton’s teacher certification, saying she “may pose a threat to the health, safety, and welfare of students, who may be under her instruction.”
There was no word if her suspension will become a revoked certification now that she has pleaded guilty.
A suit brought against Patton and the Darlington County School District by the teenager’s mother was either settled or withdrawn, court records show.
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This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Former teacher pleads guilty to sex crimes involving teenage student, SC officials say."
