Virginia Teacher Gets Prison for Sex Crimes

(Wytheville, Virginia) In January 2006, an English teacher at Scott Memorial Middle School, Karen Susan Patton, was arrested for engaging in a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old student.

In October 2006, 42-year-old Patton, a married mother of two, was indicted by a Wythe County grand jury on four counts of unlawful carnal knowledge and one count of non-forcible sodomy.

In March 2007, Patton pleaded no contest to two counts of carnal knowledge and one count of non-forcible sodomy in accordance with a plea agreement. In exchange, Commonwealth Attorney Gerald Mabe dropped two carnal knowledge charges and two contributing charges.

Today, Patton appeared in court for sentencing. For convictions on three felony counts related to molesting two 13-year-old boys, Patton received three years and 11 months in prison. She has already been added to the Virginia sex offender registry.

Patton could have received as much as 25 years so, arguably, she was treated leniently.