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Former Wisconsin teacher April Novak, 32, has been convicted of having sex with a 16-year-old student. On Thursday, she was sentenced to two years in prison.
What Happened?
In April, Novak pleaded no contest to three of the 12 felony counts of sexual assault of a student by school staff filed in December 2015. On top of the prison term, Novak is also required to serve three years of supervised release. She is not permitted to work in any school setting, including as a volunteer at her own children’s schools, and must register as a sex offender.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iqyeG9IH20
Novak is said to have admitted to police that she’d had intercourse and oral sex more than a dozen times in her classroom with the student, now 17. She also admitted that although she knew the relationship was wrong, the two had mutual “very strong feelings for each other,” according to the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.
The student had reportedly promised not to tell anyone about their relationship, but in December 2015 another teacher saw the two embracing and possibly kissing inside her classroom and made a report. Novak’s husband filed for divorce the day before she appeared in court on December 22, 2015.
Novak was arrested again earlier this month and charged with disorderly conduct for showing up at her ex-husband’s house and screaming at him and his girlfriend.
Novak was a reading interventionist and literacy coach at Menomonee Falls High School in Menomonee Falls. She worked for the school since August 2013 and had previously been employed by the Brown Deer School District.
Her attorney, Michael Hart, said Novak was “initially was the prey not the hunter,” drawn at first to the boy’s attention and praise, not from a physical attraction. The student’s grandmother disputed this claim, saying that Novak bought him gifts including shoes and expected sex in return.
“I feel for her children, but my grandson suffered, too.”
Novak has two sons under age five, one with special needs.
April Novak
April Novak is a 32-year-old former teacher at Menomonee Falls High School in Wisconsin. On Thursday, she was sentenced to two years in prison for having sex with a 16-year-old student.
