A former Pennsylvania teacher will serve time behind bars for engaging in a sexual relationship with a high school student, the York Daily Record reports.
This week, Emily Lehneis was sentenced to one to two years in prison for the crime after she apologized in court.
“I want . . . her family to know how sorry I am for what I did,” Lehneis said at a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, according to the York Dispatch. “I have no excuse for what I did, and I cannot understand how I let myself do what I did.”
The 31-year-old, who is pregnant with her third child and due in March, worked as a special education teacher at Susquehannock High School in York County. She was arrested in May after a six-month investigation.
Authorities alleged that in September 2022, the victim, a 16- or 17-year-old student, was in Lehneis’ classroom when she was kissed by the teacher. The student told investigators she did not know how to respond but did not feel OK with the kiss and left.
In another interaction, Lehneis allegedly put a name tag on the student’s body near her pubic area “in a flirtatious way,” according to Fox 43.
Lehneis allegedly asked the teen to be her “secret girlfriend” in October 2022; the student agreed to the arrangement even though she believed it was not appropriate, according to the York Daily Record. The teacher allegedly exchanged text messages and images of a sexual nature with the student, who ended the relationship within two weeks.
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The victim wrote to the court about the ramifications of the relationship.
“She manipulated me and had total control. She used her marriage, family and career to keep me from saying anything,” the victim said, according to the York Dispatch. “I’m trying to get by each day with breathing techniques and trying not to cry.”
The victim’s mother told the court that her daughter continues to be bullied at school over what happened.
Prosecutors originally charged Lehneis with unlawful contact with a minor, obscenity, institutional sexual assault, solicitation to production of child pornography and corruption of minors.
In September, she pleaded guilty to just two charges: felony institutional sexual assault and a misdemeanor charge of corruption of minors. The remaining charges were dismissed.
Lehneis also must serve five years on probation and register as a sex offender. She will not be allowed to have contact with other minors except her own.
[Feature Photo: Emily Lehneis/Southern York Regional Police Department]
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