Mississippi Teacher Gets No Jail for Sex with Male Student - Updated

(Hattiesburg, Mississippi) Former fifth-grade teacher Loni Marie Folks, 25, was shown the overwhelming evidence against her and, as a consequence, today she decided to plead guilty to sexual battery in Forrest County Circuit Court.

Folks tearfully read a prepared statement.

“I would like to apologize for my poor judgment,” she said. “I’d like to apologize to my family and to my former students. There is no acceptable excuse for this behavior.”

Judge Bob Helfrich then gave Folks a suspended sentence and five years of probation. Folks will also have to register as a sex offender and pay $2,600 in fines.

Although Folks originally faced a possible 30 years in prison, she was able to walk away from court with no jail. It's troubling that yet another convicted female sex offender has avoided spending any time behind bars.

It's worth repeating. Imagine the sentence if a 25-year-old male teacher were guilty of clacking erasers with a 16-year-old female student. No jail? I don't think so.


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Mississippi Teacher and Male Student
[Previous 1/28/08 post]
(Jackson, Mississippi) A 24-year-old fifth-grade teacher at W.L. Smith Elementary School, Loni Folks, was arrested Friday for allegedly engaging in sex with a 16-year-old male student.

Folks has been charged with sexual battery and placed on administrative leave by the Petal School System.

Folks said on her Facebook Web page that she is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and a 2001 graduate of Richton High School. She also said on the page that she is single and has two young children.

However, a public records search by the Hattiesburg American indicated she is married.

Folks was booked into custody at the Forrest County Jail and released on $30,000 bond.