WV Teacher Sentenced for Child Porn - Update

(Wheeling, West Virginia) Former Wheeling Park Middle School teacher Jennifer Bennett has been sentenced for possessing child pornography.

Judge James Mazzone said that while looking over the case, he kept coming back to the act of receiving these images and Bennett, the adult in the relationship, had repeated opportunities to cease communication and didn't.

Bennett will serve one year of jail time and get one year of supervised probation. She will also be required to register as a sex offender every year for the rest of her life.

Her defense argued for a sentence of supervised probation, and the state agreed. They say Bennett does not have a criminal record and has a dependent mother and two children at home.

Bennett made a statement that she was glad police became involved.

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WV Teacher Guilty on Child Porn Charge
[Previous 5/18/13 post]
(Wheeling, West Virginia) A 36-year-old teacher at Wheeling Middle School, Jennifer Bennett, has admitted to trading sexually explicit photos with a student.

Bennett pleaded guilty in Ohio County Circuit Court to possession of child pornography.

West Virginia State Police began investigating Bennett in June 2011 after the mother of one of her former students reported she believed Bennett and the then 16-year-old boy shared an inappropriate relationship.

No criminal evidence was discovered during the initial months of the investigation, but in February 2012, the boy told State Police he and Bennett had been exchanging cell phone pictures of their genitals. Bennett also admitted as much during an interview with investigators. She resigned her teaching position that same month.

Bennett will be sentenced in June.