Female Teacher, 35, Boy, 12, No Jail

(Athens, Texas) Last June 20th, a 35-year-old married mother and teacher at R.C. Fisher School, Beverly Renee Conditt, was charged with having an improper relationship between a teacher and a student.

Beverly Conditt's husband discovered her mugging it up with a 12-year-old boy in the Conditt home about 2 AM one morning after a non-school event. The boy ran off and was picked up about 2:30 AM by Athens Police Officer Jason McIntire.

The Athens Independent School District suspended Conditt with pay on June 25th. On July 19th, Conditt submitted her resignation.

Yesterday in the 173rd District Court, Conditt entered a plea of no contest to the one felony charge of improper relationship between a teacher and a student. Judge Dan Moore accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Conditt to five years probation.

At Monday's hearing, Conditt said she wouldn't wait for an indictment by the Grand Jury before accepting the plea agreement. Judge Moore told her that she could still face trial, and the full range of punishment if convicted, if she violated her probation or new evidence against her arose.

"The evidence substantiates your guilt in this case, Miss Conditt," Judge Moore said.

Under the terms of the agreement, Conditt will be required to give up her teaching certificate and register as a sex offender. She will also be required to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs, pay $50 to the county's Child Advocacy Center, perform 300 hours of community service and attend deviant sex counseling, among other requirements.

Okay, let's recap. She's 35, the boy is 12. She gets to go home without spending even an afternoon in jail.

Oh, I don't know. Do you think a 35-year-old man would have been treated so preciously? I don't. After all, the improper relationship charge normally carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.

As a last thought, I sense that the powers in residence wanted to quickly make this case go away. Conditt pleaded no contest even before being indicted and before the public had a chance to mull over the circumstances and seriousness of the crime. In my opinion, the Conditt case deserves more exposure. Something is seriously wrong when a 35-year-old plays around with a 12-year-old.