Teacher Sentenced for Skipping with Boy - Updated

(Carlsbad, New Mexico) Last month, Melinda Beth Bridges, 33, pleaded guilty in Carlsbad District Court to contributing to the delinquency of a minor for running away with a 16-year-old male student in May 2009.

This week, Bridges was sentenced.

She was sentenced to serve one year and five months in the custody of the New Mexico Corrections Department, followed by one year on parole with the remaining three months of the sentence suspended.

Upon release from custody, Bridges will be on three months of supervised probation.

It's not known whether Bridges will be required to register as a sex offender.

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New Mexican Teacher Charged After Skipping with Boy
[Previous 5/28/09 post]
(Carlsbad, New Mexico) A 31-year-old substitute teacher at Jefferson Montessori Academy, Melinda Beth Bridges, was arrested earlier this month while on the run with a 16-year-old boy, a student with whom she is accused of engaging in sex.

Carlsbad Police investigators received a complaint on May 1st that Bridges was engaging in an affair with the 16-year-old.

When investigators interviewed the two, both denied having a sexual relationship. The next day, they went missing and continued so for five days. On May 7th, Bridges was apprehended at a traffic stop in Webster Parish, Louisiana.

Bridges, who is married with children, was initially booked into custody at the Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center. Arrangements were made for the boy's return to New Mexico.

Upon Bridges' apparent return to New Mexico, she appeared before Judge Richard Van Dyk and entered no plea to fourth-degree criminal sexual penetration of a minor. Bridges may also face charges in Louisiana.

Judge Van Dyk released Bridges on her own recognizance and scheduled a preliminary hearing for July 15.