A former California « Teacher of the Year » was sentenced on Friday to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing two of her sixth-grade students.
Jacqueline Ma, 36, pleaded guilty in February to two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child, one count of lewd acts on a child and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
« This defendant violated the trust she had with her students in the most extreme and traumatic way possible and her actions are despicable, » District Attorney Summer Stephan said. « Her victims will have to deal with a lifetime of negative effects and her 30-year sentence is appropriate. »
Ma taught at Lincoln Acres Elementary School in National City and was the former San Diego County « Teacher of the Year » for the 2022-2023 school year.
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Ma was allowed to address the public before the judge handed down her sentence, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
« I abused my authority, I exerted my power and control over them, and I deceived them, » Ma said while handcuffed and crying in court. « Boys this age should be playing outside, feeling carefree … I ripped away their childhood. »
Ma apologized to the victims and their families, calling her crimes selfish and that she had « disgraced the teaching profession. »
« I lied to their faces while secretly abusing their sons, » Ma said. « I just pray for extra protection and strength for all those (affected). »
Ma had groomed young boys with « gifts, food and special attention and even completed their homework for them, » the district attorney’s office said.
Ma was arrested in March 2023 after prosecutors said the parents of a 12-year-old boy discovered inappropriate messages on a family tablet between their son and Ma.
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Despite the boy’s parents not allowing him to have social media or his own electronics, Ma was able to communicate with him through an unsanctioned after-school program and through a school chat application, the district attorney’s office said.
Ma groomed the boy for over a year before she sexually assaulted him in her classroom over a period of three months while his parents believed he was participating in an after-school basketball program, prosecutors said.
Further investigation into Ma revealed that she had targeted and sexually assaulted a second victim, an 11-year-old boy, in 2020, according to the district attorney’s office.
« No child deserves what this defendant did and I hope this sentence brings a measure of justice to the victims, their families and the community that was left reeling from this defendant’s crimes, » Stephan said.
Ma must serve the full 30 years before she is eligible for parole, the Union-Tribune reported.
Source link : https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-teacher-year-sentenced-years-sexual-abuse-students
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Publish date : 2025-05-11 12:17:00
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