Teacher Gets No Jail for Student Sex, Bipolar Disorder Blamed

(Taft, California) Last January, Buena Vista High School math teacher Jennifer Lynn Sanchez was arrested and charged with unlawful sexual intercourse, oral copulation and sodomy with a 17-year-old student.

On Friday, Sanchez was sentenced to probation and no jail by Kern County Superior Court Judge Lee Felice. Concurring with the lenient sentence, Deputy District Attorney Carla Grabert-Lowenstein said she doesn't believe Sanchez was given a break because she is a woman. Grabert-Lowenstein indicated "that's exactly what a man would have received under the same circumstances."

Really? I tend to disagree. A man would likely have received something harsher.

According to the terms of the agreement, Sanchez pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of unlawful sexual intercourse and, in return, all felony counts were dismissed. Her sentence of probation has the provision that she will spend 365 days in jail if she violates. If she complies with all the orders of the court, she'll get no jail and be able to expunge her record of the sex charge. Sanchez will not be required to register as a sex offender.

The reasoning behind the lenient sentence was that Sanchez has a history of mental health problems (bipolar disorder) which prompted her to commit the unlawful sex. Her defense lawyer, H.A. Sala stated that the bipolar disorder "has a host of symptoms including inappropriate sexual relations, overspending and gambling" and caused her to have "three sexual encounters with the boy in October and November." As a result, the court ordered Sanchez to receive psychiatric care and medications during her probation.

The victim and his family concurred with Sanchez's sentence. (Tip: Don Morgenstern)