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PENSACOLA, FLA---Bird got in trouble with the bees and now she's headed to prison.
Janelle Marie Bird, 25, a former biology teacher at East Hill Christian School in Escambia County, will spend the next two years in state prison for having sex with a student.
She faced up to 30 years in prison after being convicted earlier this year of having a two year relationship with a 16-year-old boy that began when the boy was 15.
Her defense attorney, Jerry Allred, had asked Circuit Court Judge Nick Geeker to place Bird on probation without jail time.
A jury had found her guilty of two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and two lesser counts of unnatural and lascivious acts. Bird had acknowledged the affair and testified that she still loved the boy. She said there was nothing lewd or lascivious about her love for the teen.
The boy testified at trial that he still loved her. His father had asked the judge for a lenient sentence for Bird.
She had left her teaching position at the East Hill Christian School last June for employment as a reading teacher at the Escambia County School District, a public school. After allegations of the affair circulated, she was fired last November. Due to still being on probation, the school board could fire her without cause.
Prior to trial, she had turned down a plea deal for eight years in prison in return for a plea of guilty to one charge. According to her attorney, she refused the deal because she didn't want to be labeled as a sex offender.
As a result of the conviction, she must now register as a sex offender wherever she lives for the rest of her life. She plans on appealing the sentence.
The judge said he didn't sentence her to probation because he didn't think she would be a repeat offender and because probation would have prevented her from returning to her Minnesota home.
Prosecutors said that love didn't excuse having sexual relations with an underage student. The boy's mother had testified that the family had hired Bird to tutor their son, had her as a dinner guest at their home and that they often dropped him off at her apartment after she had stopped tutoring him. 10-05-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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