Idaho teacher caught by husband having sex with underage teen boy dodges sex offender register, gets 90 days
ARCO, IDAHO: A female teacher, who was caught having sex with a 16-year-old boy by her ex-husband, has reportedly managed to avoid the sex offender register. Amanda Steele was awarded 90 days behind bars followed by seven years on felony probation after she pleaded guilty to two felony counts of injury to a child in the summer. However, she won’t register as a sex offender after a plea deal meant she was not charged with a sex crime.
Steele was taken into custody after her former husband caught her with the teenage boy in the family hot tub and informed police about it. District Judge Darren Simpson suspended a three to a 10-year prison sentence for the 35-year-old, but if probation was violated, she could have to serve all or some of the sentence. The woman was asked to complete 300 hours of community service and pay $4,671 in fees and fines.
According to reports, the initial investigation against the 35-year-old was started in 2017 when her then-father-in-law reached out to local authorities after hearing rumors that she had been hanging out with a group of male teenagers. However, at the time, she was not arrested as neither witnesses nor Steele gave specific answers during the interrogations. In July 2019, her ex-husband after their divorce contacted police and informed them that Steele confessed to him that she had sex with the underage boys. The same year a boy came forward and told investigators that he had been having sex with Steele while underage. The teen admitted to using a Go-Pro camera to record one of his sexual encounters with the teacher but claimed that the computer with the file was destroyed.
Steele was at first charged with three felony counts of child sexual battery committed by lewd conduct. At the time, it was also said that if found guilty, she could face up to life behind bars. But later, a plea deal diminished the possibility of criminal charges being pressed against her. The deal was first rejected by the judge, but eventually, the decision ended in Steele’s favor after the case was reviewed. The woman confessed to having sex with a 17-year-old boy twice. Reports stated that the amendment to the charges meant Steele was charged considering only one of her victims.
In a similar incident, a school dinner lady was given a jail sentence for eight months after it was found she offered oral sex to a 12-year-old boy and sent him pictures of her breasts. The victim was not only sent numerous graphic text messages by Jayne Sewell but also told that she wanted to be spanked. Cardiff crown court heard that the 52-year-old woman reached out to the boy through several social media platforms, like Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger. Judge Recorder Paul Lewis told Sewell, "Children have to be protected from predatory adults, and that is what I regard you as - a predatory adult.” The judge also asked her to not contact boys under the age of 16.