Texas Teacher Gets Prison for Sex with Boy - Updated

(Denton, Texas) Having been convicted by a jury on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child and tampering with a witness, 30-year-old former teacher Lauren Cosgrove received five years in prison at her sentencing hearing yesterday.

Cosgrove's sentences actually total seven years but they will be served concurrently, allowing her to be eligible for parole in two and one-half years.

Cosgrove's attorney, Donna Winfield, had asked for probation since sex crimes against boys are different from sex crimes against girls. Winfield said, "I don’t believe he’s going to be scarred for life."

As mitigating factors for Cosgrove, a cascade of excuses was presented by the defense, including that she is a troubled woman suffering from postpartum depression, wanting to escape her family, desiring time for herself, and having a husband who was critical of her weight. Also, numerous family members said Cosgrove is a wonderful woman who they believe is innocent but the jury wasn't allowed to hear all the facts.

On the other hand, prosecutors said that Cosgrove is a "manipulative, lying, scheming witch" and they are "sick and tired of [people like Cosgrove] preying on children and then using their own children as a shield."

Prudent analysis of Cosgrove's case exposes the commonly-thought harmlessness of adult female child sex offenses as a myth. Cosgrove's behavior was destructive not only to her victim and his family but also to herself and her family. Cosgrove's career in education is over and she has three toddler-age children who will possibly start school before she is released from prison. Although her husband Jeremy has demonstrated a saintly degree of forgiveness through the whole ugly episode, one must assume that Cosgrove has used all her mulligans.


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Texas Teacher Busted Again in Boy Sex Case
[Previous 12/9/08 post]
(Denton, Texas) In July 2007, a 7th-grade English teacher at Strickland Middle School, Lauren Cosgrove, was arrested for allegedly engaging in sexual relations with a 13-year-old male student of hers that she was also babysitting.

Married and the mother of two, Cosgrove faces two counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child. She was booked into custody at the Denton City Jail and released on $20,000 bond.

In October 2007, Cosgrove was again arrested for attempting to contact the boy, contrary to the terms of her release. She was booked on the violation and released on bail.

Yesterday, 30-year-old Cosgrove was again arrested and charged with tampering with a witness.

According to a Denton Police Department arrest affidavit, on Dec. 1 the boy climbed out a window of his home and got into her waiting car. Ms. Cosgrove drove the boy to another location and spent time alone with him, the court document states.

Later that day, Ms. Cosgrove sent the boy a text message asking if his parents would drop charges in exchange for a large sum of money, the document states.

The parents notified police, who began investigating the current charge.

Cosgrove was booked and released on $5,000 bail.

Okay, let's see a show of hands of all those who believe that Cosgrove will violate her conditions of release again. I'm in.