Special Education Teacher and Mom of 5 Sentenced to 10 Years for Sex With Student

A former teacher of special education students in Illinois accepted a guilty plea that sentenced her last week to 10 years in prison for criminal sexual assault of a student younger than 18, PEOPLE confirms.

Sarah L. Myers, 41, a mother of five from Garden Prairie, Illinois, was scheduled to go on trial next month but was sentenced Friday after accepting the plea agreement, Fox News reports.

The male student was not enrolled in special education classes, according to Illinois’ Boone County Sheriff’s Office.

Myers, who taught special education as well as math at North Boone High School, was arrested and charged in early April with two counts of criminal sexual assault, the sheriff’s office reported. The felony charge carried a possible penalty of 15 years in prison.

The student who came forward that month told prosecutors he had engaged in a sexual relationship with Myers dating back to November 2016, according to the Rockford Register Star.

The sheriff’s office was reportedly notified about the assault by the North Boone School District, who said in April that Myers had been placed on administrative leave and later resigned.

School district officials were unavailable to comment on Tuesday as the office was closed.

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First Assistant State’s Attorney Lise Lombardo said in court on Friday that two sex acts between Myers and the teen took place in Boone County. A third is alleged to have occurred in Champaign County, Illinois, where additional charges against Myers are pending.

Myers is currently housed at the Boone County Jail, PEOPLE confirms. Jail records did not list an attorney for her.

She was given credit at her sentencing for the 261 days she has already spent in jail, Lombardo said, and will have to serve 85 percent of her 10-year sentence.

After that time, Myers will be required to register for the rest of her life as a sex offender, the prosecutor said.