A former teacher who had won a teacher of the year award pleaded guilty to child sex crimes this week. The former California teacher faces up to 30 years in prison for child sex abuse of two students.
On Wednesday, 35-year-old Jacqueline Ma pleaded guilty to two counts of lewd acts with a child under age 14, with duress. She also admitted to a lewd act involving a second child under 14. Ma pleaded guilty to a count of possessing material containing a minor engaged in or simulating sexual conduct.
Deputy District Attorney Drew Hart described Ma’s behavior toward the first victim as ‘obsessive, possessive, controlling, and dangerous.’
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Ma is expected to be sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.
Ma’s change of plea arrived roughly two months before her trial was scheduled to begin. Before pleading guilty, she faced up to 165 years to life in state prison.
Ma is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9 at Chula Vista Superior Court.
Ma’s attorney, Patrick Griffin, said the plea deal was a “fair resolution” to the case and that his client had “accepted responsibility early on in this process.”
“She has done nothing but express genuine remorse from the beginning of this,” Griffin stated.
Ma had been employed as a sixth-grade teacher at Lincoln Acres Elementary School in National City, California. As Blaze News reported in March 2023, Ma was one of five educators named 2022-23 San Diego County teachers of the year.
Seven months after winning her teacher of the year award, Ma was arrested on suspicions of child sex abuse. A parent of a 12-year-old boy contacted the National City Police Department to report that the parent’s son’s teacher was likely having an illicit sexual relationship with the boy.
The Times of San Diego reported that Ma was arrested and charged “in connection with allegations that she groomed a 13-year-old former student, exchanged illicit photographs with the boy, and engaged in sex acts with the teen.”
Deputy District Attorney Drew Hart described Ma’s behavior toward the first victim as “obsessive, possessive, controlling, and dangerous.” Hart said Ma had a photograph of the boy in her wallet, she had jewelry with his initials, and love letters to the boy were found in her classroom.
“This was very significant to us, not just because she won an award, but because of who she was in the community,” Hart said.
During the investigation, law enforcement discovered a possible second victim — an 11-year-old boy. Prosecutors accused Ma of sending sexually charged messages to the minor.
As Blaze News reported in July 2023, Ma was hit with more than a dozen new charges related to the alleged sex crimes against the two boys, who were both previous students of Ma.
During Ma’s preliminary hearing in December 2023, National City Police Department Detective Colleen Stanich read messages sent between the teacher and the underage student.
Citing court testimony, KGTV reported that Ma sent a message to her former student that read: “Do not forget my underwear is in your pocket.”
The boy reportedly wrote to Ma in one message: “Sometimes I think you don’t understand that I am a kid still and this is my only real relationship.”
Superior Court Judge Maryann D’Addezio said Ma used her authority over one of the boys to “coerce him into behavior that he wasn’t ready for, for a relationship that was beyond inappropriate, beyond wrong.”
Hart said after Ma pleaded guilty, “We think this plea deal sends a message. Not just about sex offenses on children, but when you leverage a position of trust, when you leverage good faith with parents in the community, and you do this to their children, there will be significant penalties to pay.”
Leighangela Brady, the superintendent of the National School District, released a statement following the guilty plea announcing that Ma had been fired.
“Two years ago, when we learned of the allegations of inappropriate physical activity between this former educator and a minor, we were stunned to our core,” Brady stated. “Although she was immediately placed on unpaid status and has been detained ever since, I want to assure our school community that with this guilty plea, we are now able to formally move to terminate her employment with the district.”
Ma had been a teacher in the National School District since 2013.
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Bad teacher, Child sex abuse, Child sex crimes, Teacher arrested, Teacher sex scandal, Crime
