Teacher who argued she had constitutional right to have sex with students given jail time
DECATUR, Ala. (WKRC) — A former teacher in Alabama who pled guilty after being accused of having sexual relations with a couple of high school students has been sentenced to state prison.
47-year-old Carrie Witt was a teacher at Decatur High School in Decatur, Alabama, and was arrested in 2016 for allegedly having sex with two students, aged 17 and 18. She was sentenced to 10 years.
However, she will only have to spend 18 months in that prison and then 18 months in a community corrections program before serving the remainder of her sentence on probation.
Her lawyers argued that since Alabama's age of consent is 16, Witt was within her constitutional rights to have sex with those students.
They also argued that Alabama's state laws that prevent teachers from having sex with their students are "unconstitutional".
Prosecutors disagreed, saying that such laws are constitutional, and necessary, to protect students from teachers' sexual advances.
Court papers show that a judge refused to dismiss the case. Hours before her trial was set to start, Witt pleaded guilty to one of the two charges according to People.com
Witt reportedly apologized during her sentencing.
"I'm ashamed," she told the judge, the Decatur Daily reports. "I don't think I've ever been more ashamed of myself."
