PA Teacher Gets Jail for Corrupting Boy - Updated

(York County, Pennsylvania) Former teacher Kimberly Jo Larkin, 41, has been sentenced by Common Pleas Judge Craig Trebilcock for engaging in sex with a 16-year-old boy.

Trebilcock handed down an unexpected sentence, ordering her to serve 6 to 12 months in York County Prison, calling her actions "despicable" and saying she's "a huge discredit" to her profession. People like her are the reason, he said, that "good teachers" can't hug a child who's suffering.[…]

Deputy prosecutor Lauren Carella requested only five years' probation, and defense attorney Terrence McGowan said he expected Larkin would receive a probationary sentence. Larkin was given a year of probation for the alcohol-related conviction and granted a month to find somewhere for her children to live before reporting to jail.

The judge said his hangup was with the "disconnect" between the upstanding woman presented in court and the actions she admitted performing.

Larkin testified in April that she had sex with the boy five times in July 2010, when the teen was no longer her student.

She said she wanted to help the boy, whom she described as "very lost," and on June 5, 2010 - the day after he left Paradise School - she drove him to fast-food restaurants to help him apply for jobs.

She admitted the teen drank alcohol, which she'd bought on at least one occasion, but said he "helped himself" to it and she didn't furnish it to him.

The relationship ended after she learned he was texting a girl; Larkin became jealous and broke up with him, she said.

Interestingly, Larkin has a son the same age as her male victim.

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PA Teacher Guilty of Corrupting Boy - Updated
[Previous 4/12/12 post]
(York County, Pennsylvania) After less than three hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Kimberly Jo Larkin of institutional sexual assault on the basis that the sexual relationship with the 16-year-old boy started after he was no longer her student.

However, Larkin was convicted of corrupting a minor and furnishing alcohol to a minor. According to defense attorney Terrence McGowan,

"It's a bittersweet victory," he said. "Her career is over."

The corruption conviction bans her from teaching for the rest of her life, he said.

"I'm not excusing her behavior," McGowan said. "She crossed the line. She screwed up. ... She's just glad to avoid a felony conviction."

Sentencing is scheduled for July 16.

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Female Teacher, 39, Accused of Doing Boy, 16
[Previous 12/17/10 post]
(York County, Pennsylvania) A 39-year-old teacher at the Paradise School for Boys, Kimberly Larkin aka Kimberly Jo Larkin, has been arrested for allegedly engaging in repeated sex with a 16-year-old male student.

Community members are outraged, especially after learning Larkin is also accused of giving the student marijuana and alcohol, and a cell phone with hopes of keeping their relationship concealed.

"She knew what she was doing, she knew it was wrong because she had to sneak the cell phone," said resident Clara Hicks.

The Paradise School is for boys aged 12 to 16 who have gone through the juvenile probation system.



Companion post at The Jawa Report.