Philadelphia McCaskey High School teacher Christy Lee Smith was convicted on 18 counts of having sex with two male students. The jury needed only two hours to convict Christy Lee Smith on all but four counts of the sexual abuse related charges, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Smith engaged in a sexual relationship with the students from 2008 to 2010.
Both of Christy Lee Smith’s victims testified in her trial at the Lancaster County Court. Both young men gave similar accounts of their sexual relationship with the teacher , according to prosecutor statements to the media after the verdict was read. The students the teacher was convicted of having sex with are now 19 and 20. One of the victims met Christy Smith, 34, at the high school where she taught, the other at a local dance class. Both of Smith’s students gave “specific details” about her and her apartment which prosecutors and apparently the jury as well, believed could not be fabricated.
One male student was a sophomore at McCasky High School when the teacher initiated a sexual relationship with him. The other student as a senior (still a minor) at nearby Solanco High School when the sexual encounters with teacher Christy Smith began. The McCasky High School victim testified in court wearing handcuffs and guarded by two county deputy sheriffs; the teen is currently incarcerated on unrelated charges.
The Lancaster Gazette reports Christy Smith showed “no emotion” when Judge Dennis Reinaker announced the guilty verdicts. Smith’s sentencing will reportedly take place in approximately three months. Christy Smith’s attorney Merrill Spahn declined to comment on the guilty verdict in the sex with students case. If Smith is handed the maximum sentence possible for a teacher having sex with minors, she could be in prison for the rest of her life.