Teacher Who Claimed She Had Constitutional Right to Sex with Students Gets Jail Time
An ex-teacher in Alabama who pleaded guilty to having sex with two high school students has been sentenced to 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,” WKRC reported Monday.
BREAKING NEWS: former #Decatur#Alabama teacher sentenced to
in 10 years /registered as a sex offender. @WAAYTV has you covered on this case that has attracted National media coverage and played out over more than FIVE year legal battle.BACKGROUND: https://t.co/aHgWR6IUttpic.twitter.com/VxJv0iTxHy
— Matt Kroschel (@Matt_Kroschel) July 1, 2021
She will spend 18 months in prison, then 18 months in a community corrections program prior to serving the rest of her sentence on probation.
The outlet continued:
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 documents showed a judge refused to dismiss the case and Witt pleaded guilty prior to her trial, People reported, adding that during her sentencing, she apologized for her past actions.
“I’m ashamed,” she told the judge. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more ashamed of myself.”
On Thursday, one of the victims reportedly said he disagreed with the law prohibiting teachers and school workers from having sex with students.“The crime doesn’t fit the punishment,” he claimed and described the sex as consensual.
WHNT reported Witt must also register as a sex offender.
“I think when she decided not to pursue a federal appeal I think she knew this could possibly be the outcome. But the financial toll and the emotional toll of that was just too much to continue. And I think she knew this was always a possibility,” Witt’s attorney, Robert Tuten, said.
“Anytime somebody’s arrested and charged with a felony it’s possible you’re going to jail,” he concluded.
