Repost (with extra court pics):
Florida teacher who had sex with three of her students and even got pregnant by one is jailed for 22 YEARS - despite tearfully pleading for forgiveness in court
By Sophie Jane Evans For Dailymail.com
22:56 02 Jul 2015, updated 23:10 02 Jul 2015
- Jennifer Fichter, from Florida, had sex with three male students, aged 17
- One of teacher's illegal trysts ended in pregnancy, which she terminated
- In April, she admitted to 37 counts of unlawful sexual contact with minor
- On Thursday, she gave tearful plea for forgiveness at Polk County Court
- She said she wished she could 'go back and remove what I have done'
- Called her actions 'selfish' and apologized for causing 'hurt' to victims
- Despite her plea, judge sentenced her to 22 years in a Lakeland prison
- Deemed Central Aerospace Academy a 'predator' who needs to change
A former teacher who engaged in sexual relationships with three of her students - and even got pregnant by one - has been jailed for 22 years despite tearfully pleading for forgiveness in court.
Jennifer Fichter, 30, who taught English at a school in Lakeland, Florida, admitted to 37 counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor in April in relation to three of her 17-year-old male students.
One of her trysts had ended in a pregnancy, which she terminated. At the time, Fichter rejected a plea deal by the State Attorney's Office, seemingly in a bid to achieve a more lenient sentence.
And on Thursday, she gave an emotional speech at Polk County Court, telling her victims and their families, who were in attendance, that she wished she could 'go back and remove what I've done'.
Donning a blue prison jumpsuit and with tears streaming down her face, she said: 'I hate so much what my selfishness has done... I can't, I won't even begin to think my words were enough.
'I hate what I have done. I wish I could go back and think about them [the victims] before me. But I can't, I can't do that... I wish I could take it back, and my words are not going to suffice, I know that.'
Placing one hand on her heart, she admitted that she did not think at the time how her three students at Central Aerospace Academy could be 'hurt' by their sexual relationships with her.
'I hate what you've gone though because of my actions,' she wept. 'If you hate me, I understand.'
After speaking directly to her former students and their families, Fichter asked for forgiveness from the judge himself, telling him she was 'sorry' for the crimes she committed and their repercussions.
She told him that her three victims did not 'deserve to be put in the positions I put them in.'
According to in-court footage obtained by Action News, Fichter's father also took to the stand to ask for a lesser sentence for his daughter, who faced up to 15 years in prison for each of her counts.
But sentencing Fichter, the judge called her a predator - and jailed her for more than two decades.
'You’re going to have a long time to think about what you did. I trust that your faith is real, and you’ll have a long time to let your faith work in your life so that when you come out you’re a different person,' said the judge, who took into consideration that there were multiple victims in the case.
'It bothered me that there was references to that faith and yet there was this activity.'
He added: 'We hope this sentence helps you change and become a different person.'
Fichter was arrested in April after the horrified mother of one of the Academy's juniors found a number of intimate text messages from her on her son's phone, and alerted the police
The teacher was charged with six counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, and later charged with 20 more counts in June when a second student came forward accusing the teacher of abuse.
Investigators later learned of her relationship with a third student, reported WFLA.
The first victim was 17 years old in September 2011 when Fichter started inviting him over to her apartment where they would cuddle on the couch and watch TV.
He said the relationship turned sexual the next month and they went on to have intercourse about 20 times for seven months - sometimes in the boy's bedroom while his mother was away.
Fichter was later hit with a dozen more charges when a third student contacted police saying that he and Fichter met for sex three times in the parking lot of a Lakeland apartment complex.
The had also had sex three times near New Tampa Highway, he told police.
Their first encounter took place in November 2011 in Fichter's Toyota pickup truck, and the boy said they also had sex four times outside the city in Polk and Hillsborough.
The illegal meetings were discovered by the teen's suspicious mother on January 27, 2014.
When she noticed her son was not home at 5am and lied about his whereabouts, she looked through his cell phone and found texts from two names. One discussed an 'age difference'.
Police said the mom confronted her son, who admitted both names were used by Fichter. The mother reported Fichter to police and agreed to speak to the teacher and record the conversation.
During the call, which was played in court, Fichter admitted that she became pregnant with the teen's child but aborted it - and also confessed to sexual affairs with the two other boys.
'You were pregnant and had an abortion, is that true?' the mother asked during the call.
'Yes, that's true,' replied Fichter, according to WTSP.
Her co-worker told investigators that she told her she even dreamed about the boy one night.
When asked what it was about, she said, ‘Oh my goodness, it was a goooood dream!’
The report said Fichter and her colleague joked that the remark could get her jailed if ever revealed.
No charges have been filed in that case.
Fichter has 30 days to appeal her 22-year sentence, The Tampa Tribune reported.
She is still facing charges in Hillsborough County involving the same students.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ite-tearfully-pleading-forgiveness-court.html
