Dakota Teacher Gets 60 Days in Student Sex Case - Update

(Bismarck, North Dakota)

A former North Dakota gym teacher was sentenced to 60 days in jail Wednesday for having sex with a ninth-grade male student, but will not have to register as a sex offender because of the crime.

In May, 35-year-old Bismarck resident Susan Kathleen Duursma pleaded guilty to felony child abuse against a student she taught, according to the Bismark Tribune. She had resigned from her school position months before.

In addition to her jail sentence, South Central District Court Judge Bruce Romanick also gave Duursma a six-year suspended prison sentence, along with a probation time of five years.

So, case closed.

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Dakota Teacher Pleads Guilty to Sex with Boy - Update
[Previous 5/3/14 post]
(Bismarck, North Dakota) Former Bismarck teacher Susan Duursma, 35, pleaded guilty in accordance with a plea deal to child abuse and admitted to having a sex with a 9th-grader.

Duursma had been scheduled to stand trial next week but changed her plea instead. The abuse of a child charge is a Class B felony, rather than a Class C felony, because Duursma was the boy's homeroom teacher.

Justin Vinje, who is defending Duursma along with Tom Dickson, said the plea agreement in the case would call for Romanick to sentence Duursma to six years in prison with all but 60 days suspended.

Duursma would be eligible for work release, if allowed by the detention center. She would be on supervised probation following the sentence.

Judge Bruce Romanick must decide whether to accept the plea agreement.

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Dakota Teacher Accused of Sex with Boy
[Previous 9/24/13 posy]
(Bismarck, North Dakota) A 34-year-old teacher at Wachter Middle School, Susan Kathleen Duursma, has been accused of engaging in sex with a boy between 15 and 17 years of age.

Duursma faces a charge of felony corruption of a minor.

Police say the female teacher was arrested Friday for an alleged sexual act with a boy between the age 15 and 17. It occurred between March 1 and July 1, according to a police report.

The teacher was expected to be formally charged on Monday.

She was arrested Friday, taken to the Burleigh County Detention Center. The teacher appeared before the judge and was released.

The teacher has been placed on administrative paid leave, said Superintendent Tamara Uselman.

A criminal complaint against Duursma was signed on Monday.