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Kathryn Houghtaling, a former special education teacher in Michigan, has been sentenced to four years in jail for having sexual relationships with her students, according to Fox 2 Detroit. Houghtaling could serve up to 15 years in prison for the charges.
The former Rochester High School teacher was charged with six counts of criminal sexual conduct for having sex with two boys who were aged 16 and 17. She also received time for the delivery of a controlled substance to a minor for giving one of the students drugs.
“Still, to this minute this defendant has expressed no remorse: (She believes) this is everyone else’s fault, she blames the victims. She makes statements to the probation agent which I found outrageous, claiming that she was threatened by one of these victims that he would harm her, he would harm her husband, that he would killer dogs or burn down her house,” the prosecutor said.
“Up to the day before she was interviewed by the police, she was texting the victim on (four of the counts) wanting to know if (the victim) could hang out with her.”
Houghtaling must also undergo DNA and HIV testing along with registering as a sex offender.
During sentencing, she finally apologized for her actions.
“My actions have consequences that will affect me, my husband, my family, and friends,” she said. “I want to apologize to all the parties involved, specifically to my students. I know that my actions betrayed the duty and the responsibility I had as a teacher. I sincerely never intended for my relationship with them to cause them drama.
“I’ve learned to take full responsibility for my controllable actions and know to seek help for those actions which I cannot control.”
Over the course of the past year alone, a handful of teachers have been arrested on similar charges, including 25-year-old substitute teacher Alexis Mercedes Boberg in Baltimore, Beulah High School teacher Kelsie Schmidt in North Dakota, Rancocas Valley Regional High School teacher Alexandra Reiner in New Jersey, and 50-year-old Florida substitute teacher Angela Jean Stanton in Florida. Additionally, Texas teachers Meredith Null and Edna Longoria were arrested on similar charges.
As for why the number of these incidents has seemingly increased, studies suggest that smartphones are the primary reason for the spike in illicit relationships, as it allows teachers to communicate with the minors without supervision.
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.
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