Amy Nowaczyk, a 26-year-old former teacher at Morton Middle School who was accused of performing oral sex on a teenage student, has been sentenced to one to two years in prison. She was sentenced in a Douglas County court on Friday, November 9.
According to court records, Nowaczyk pled guilty to charges of attempted sexual assault of a child and enticement by electronic device. These charges were amended, as Nowacyk was originally charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child. Nowaczyk’s original charges carried a maximum of life in prison.
Nowaczyk was previously arrested in April of 2018 after the unidentified 13-year-old teenager allegedly told investigators the two had “sexual contact several times inside the classroom during the previous eight months.”
Additionally, Nowaczyk was accused of exchanging messages with the underage boy through Omaha Public Schools email, text messages, and the photo-messaging app Snapchat. Furthermore, Nowaczyk allegedly sent the boy a photo of her bare breasts while she was wearing a watch that she “often wore.”
As for why there has been such a significant increase in instances of teachers having sexual relationships with students, researchers believe that technology is to blame.
According to a report from the Texas Education Association, smartphones make easy for teachers to privately text and talk with students and also make it possible for teachers and students to share explicit images.
SESAME (Stop Educator Sexual Abuse Misconduct & Exploitation) President Terri Miller echoed that sentiment, stating “before cell phones, we knew who our kids were talking to” but today, “kids have their own phones, they’re taking them to bed, and parents need to watch more.”
Nowaczyk is just the latest teacher to be charged for inappropriate conduct. Over the course of just a few months, educators across the country were arrested for entering into an inappropriate relationship with their students, Tennessee teacher Janet Smothers, LaToya Parker, Florida teacher Caroline Lawson, 26-year-old Allyson Moran and Katherine Ross Ridenhour were all arrested on similar charges. A woman named Kayla Sprinkles was arrested in North Carolina for similar sexual crimes.
The list goes on to include 22-year-old Oklahoma science teacher Hunter Day, 28-year-old teacher Megan Kotarski, 23-year-old history teacher Michelle Schiffer, 29-year-old Alyssia Marie Reddy, special education teacher Jordan Ondish and 28-year-old Samantha Fitzpatrick have all been allegedly carrying on inappropriate relationships with their students.
34-year-old Miranda Nicole Pauley was charged with similar crimes, Nancy Leigh Ann Brann, a former Christian school teacher, was arrested for having sex with a student, Coine Audiat pleaded no contest to having sex with a minor in 2016 and 23-year-old Darci Lake was arrested for an inappropriate relationship. 27-year-old Brittany Zamora from Arizona was arrested on similar charges. Keri Hoffman, 35, was also arrested for an alleged relationship with a student. Similarly, 29-year-old Tiffany Ranweiler-Oblander and 33-year-old Maren Oates were arrested on similar charges.
More recently, 29-year-old Haylie Smart, 25-year-old Alaina Ferguson, and 32-year-old Laura Bucy were charged with similar crimes.
