Sarah Jones, a former cheerleader for the Cincinnati Bengals who also worked as a high school English teacher, has plead guilty to having sex with an underage student.
According to ABC , Jones accepted a plea deal this morning and will avoid jail time. Jones, who taught at Dixie Heights High School in Kentucky, plead guilty to sexual misconduct and custodial interference. The KY Post reports that Jones will serve five years probation. As part of the plea deal, Jones also agreed to never apply for another teaching position.
Jones’ mother, former school principal Cheryl Armstrong Jones, also pleaded guilty on Monday. Cheryl Jones plead guilty to tampering with evidence.
The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports that the 27-year-old teacher’s trial was slated to start this Wednesday.
The former Ben-Gal has spent the last several months trying to clear her name. Jones has appeared on various talk shows trying to dispel “rumors” about her sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student.
“People don’t know the real me. There’s blogs and postings out there that I have slept with numerous people. I married my high school sweetheart … I just asked the general public to maybe hold their judgment a little bit longer until the truth comes out … The hardest thing has been having not only me go through it, but to have my mom go through it with me … It’s almost kind of a guilty feeling that she is even involved in this because what has happened to her is not fair. My goal is for her charges to be dismissed.”
Well, the truth is finally coming out.
Do you think Sarah Jones should have gone to jail? Are you happy that she’s been banned from teaching?