Teacher Gets Jail in Lewd Message Case - Updated

(Napa, California) In January 2011, former substitute teacher at Napa High School, Linda Antanina Vass, 41, pleaded no contest to distributing lewd material to a minor.

Charges of having lewd contact with a minor and annoying a child under 18 were dropped.

As a result of the conviction, Vass was sentenced by Napa County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kroyer to 90 days in jail followed by three years of probation.

Kroyer, who received two dozen letters in support of Vass, also ordered her to stay away from Napa High School and other schools other than to transport a relative and not to communicate with any male under the age of 18 in a sexual manner through phone, e-mail or texting.

Defense Attorney Doug Pharr said his client was remorseful. “She can’t forgive herself for this,” he told the judge.

But Prosecutor Allison Haley argued that Vass should spend 180 days in jail, as her probation report had recommended. “She knew what was going on was wrong,” she said. After the hearing, Haley did not hide her disappointment.

During the sentencing, Vass sobbed and said she was sorry. She reports to the county jail on April 18.

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California Teacher Accused in Lewd Message Case
[Previous 11/8/10 post]
(Napa, California) A 41-year-old substitute teacher at Napa High School, Linda Antanina Vass, was arrested this week for allegedly sending sexually-explicit materials to a 15-year-old boy. The boy's family alerted the authorities.

Vass faces charges of annoying or molesting a child under age 18, sending harmful matter with intent to seduce a minor, and contacting a minor with intent to commit sexual offenses.

Vass was booked into custody at the Napa County Jail.