A former Idaho teacher who had sex with a teenager and then forced him to drive her home while she was drunk was sentenced in court.
Jessica Lawson, 36, was jailed Thursday for a minimum of two years and a maximum of 20 years for felony sexual assault of a minor 16 or 17 years old.
According to District Judge Stephen Dunn’s ruling, Lawson, who was born in Arizona, will be required to register as a sex offender and attend treatment during and after her stay in prison.
The former South Fremont High School teacher and mother is subject to a 20-year no-contact order with the victim, who had recently been adopted by her new parents when she took advantage of him.
Lawson’s sordid crimes were exposed on Nov. 6 when police pulled the victim over during a traffic stop because the vehicle had no visible headlights.
Jessica Lawson (pictured), 36, was jailed Thursday for a minimum of two years and a maximum of 20 years for felony sexual assault of a minor 16 or 17 years old.
Authorities discovered the car belonged to Lawson, who the boy said allowed her to drive because she was too drunk.
Court documents detail how the boy was also in possession of marijuana at the time.
Police took him home that night before speaking to his parents the next morning, who said he had grown up in foster care and had only adopted him a few days earlier.
The teen’s parents said Lawson picked up the boy at 11 p.m. on Nov. 6 and took him to his home in Saint Anthony, Idaho.
They added that the teacher had raped the boy after they drank alcohol and took drugs together.
Lawson initially pleaded not guilty to two counts of felony rape of a 16- or 17-year-old victim, felony delivery of a controlled substance and misdemeanor dispensing alcohol to a minor.
But as part of a court deal, he pleaded guilty in August to two counts of serious sexual assault of a minor in exchange for the Attorney General’s Office dropping all other charges.
He was involved in another case in which Lawson was charged with a violation of allowing an unauthorized minor to drive.
Deputy Attorney General Madison Allen described the details of the case in court.
Lawson, 36, an Arizona native, taught at South Fremont High School from 2021 to 2023.
The former South Fremont High School teacher (pictured) is subject to a 20-year no-contact order with the victim, who had recently been adopted by her new parents.
“Jessica Lawson, who was 36 years old at the time, had an unlawful sexual relationship with a 16-year-old underage victim when she secretly picked him up at his home without his parents’ permission,” he said.
“She took him to her house where the two began drinking alcohol and then engaged in sexual acts together.”
Lawson apologized to the victim and her family after giving a self-pitying speech broadcast on Eastern Idaho Newsblaming a previous 15-year “toxic relationship” for his crimes.
“I am solely responsible for my actions, but I believe that a (previous) relationship was the catalyst that led me to where I am today,” she said in the courtroom.
“I want to apologize to the victim and his family for any pain I have caused,” he added while sobbing. “I want to apologize to the community and anyone I’ve let down.”
Judge Dunn dismissed Lawson’s excuses, telling him: ‘I understand that you have been through difficult times.
“There hasn’t been one of these cases where I haven’t had a woman in front of me, a defendant who hasn’t told me a similar story, frankly, about a generally abusive marriage and low self-esteem.”
The victim’s father lamented the harm Lawson had caused the vulnerable young man.
“It takes a village to raise a young person, especially a young person who has been in and out of foster care, who has never known what it’s like to have a mom and a dad,” she told the court.
‘My son is going to take a long time to heal and he doesn’t even know the wounds he has yet.
“He won’t understand those wounds until he is a father and sends his daughter or son… to the home of a father he trusts.”
Jessica Lawson, a former Idaho teacher who had sex with a teenager and then forced him to drive her home while she was drunk, was sentenced in court.
The teenager’s mother also told the court that people in her local community had lashed out at her over the case.
“We brought (the victim) in because he needed someone and he didn’t have anyone,” he said.
‘It was pretty quickly that we realized that this is a really fantastic, wonderful boy and he should be in our family.
“He has a lot of problems because he didn’t have a mom and dad who taught him to recognize safe people.”
“You took advantage of that,” he added, addressing Lawson.
Lawson’s lawyer, Allen Browning, told the court his client wanted to apologize to the victim.
She added that she understood that her stay in prison was “for the sake of justice.”
The former South Fremont High School teacher (pictured) is subject to a 20-year no-contact order with the victim, who had recently been adopted by her new parents.