Teacher, 42, Gets Prison for Doing Boy, 10 - Updated

(Durham, North Carolina) Yesterday, former Durham Public Schools teaching assistant Gina Marie Watring pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual activity with a student, indecent liberties with a child, first-degree kidnapping and child abduction.

Watring's lawyer said she was bipolar which gave her an obsession to engage in sex with the 10-year-old boy.

Watring, 42 and a mother of 3, was facing 70½ years in the N.C. Department of Correction, but the judge accepted the deal worked out by lawyers and sentenced her to 58 months to 79 months in prison. That’s between a little under five years and less than seven years behind bars.

Watring’s lawyer, Mark Edwards, said attributed her actions to mental problems. Superior Court Judge Michael Morgan, a Wake County judge, cited that as a reason for going along with the plea deal. […]

Watring taught dance and drama at Creekside Elementary School. The victim attended the southern Durham school, and that’s where Watring would pull him from the bus line to spend time with him, Durham County District Attorney Tracey Cline said. When it appeared the relationship between the two was more than a student having a crush on his teacher, the child’s mom spoke with Watring about it, the prosecutor said.

Watring bought a phone for the boy so they could communicate using text messages, Cline said. The child snuck out of his home about 2 a.m. on a couple of occasions to have Watring pick him up, the prosecutor said. Those episodes resulted in the two having sex, Cline said.

Watring claimed she was in love with the 10-year-old and wasn’t sleeping with her husband, the district attorney said.

Watring was also ordered to register as a sex offender and to serve three years of probation when she is released from prison. Judge Morgan granted Watring permission to serve her probation in California.

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NC Teacher Accused of Sex with Boy
[Previous 4/29/09 post]
(Durham, North Carolina) A 40-year-old teacher at Creekside Elementary School, Gina Marie Watring, has been arrested on charges that she engaged in sex with a student. Watring has reportedly resigned her teaching position.

Police said the student is a boy but would not confirm reports that he is 10 years old. Police said they were notified by Durham School officials.

Officials are searching Watring's home.

Watring was booked into custody at the Durham County Jail with bond set at $100,000.