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Teen Pleads For Mercy On Former Teacher

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 9, 2007

12/13/05: Coach's Connection To Players Detailed

TAMPA - A former Wharton High School student who had a nearly two-year sexual relationship with her teacher and coach told a judge Monday she doesn't want the teacher to go to jail.

'I know wrong is wrong no matter how you look at it, but at the same time I feel that I was there wrong, too,' the young woman told Circuit Judge J. Rodgers Padgett. 'Even though I know some type of punishment is going to take place no matter how I feel, I really don't want her to go to jail.'

Jaymee Wallace

The teacher, Jaymee Wallace, 30, could face as much as 15 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to lewd and lascivious battery and unlawful sexual activity with a minor. Under sentencing guidelines, Wallace would receive nine years in prison. Assistant State Attorney Kimberly Hindman told the judge she was prepared to offer a recommendation of three years behind bars.

Plea negotiations were unsuccessful, though, so Wallace entered an open plea, allowing the judge to decide her sentence, which is scheduled for Dec. 5. Wallace didn't speak during Monday's plea hearing, but the now-18-year-old victim did.

Hindman told Padgett the case 'arose out of a consensual, a consensual in quotes relationship' that began between the coach and the victim just before the girl's 15th birthday, an age when the girl could not legally consent. The relationship continued for nearly two years, even after Wallace married in the summer of 2004, Hindman said.

Wallace was the girl's math teacher and basketball coach. She stapled a note to the girl's math test telling her she found her attractive and asking what she thought of that, Hindman said. If the case went to trial, the prosecutor said, she would present witnesses to 'intimate contact' between the defendant and the victim, if not actual sexual activity.

At least two witnesses would have testified that Wallace told them about the relationship and sought their advice, Hindman said.

Hindman said the prosecution 'is sensitive and mindful of the wishes of the victim,' but must take into account its obligation 'to the public as a whole,' and therefore felt a three-year sentence, followed by a term of sex-offender probation, would serve justice.

Under questioning by Hindman, the victim said Wallace counseled her about relationships, and that the two of them went out together to movies and other places away from the area of the school so they wouldn't be seen. Wallace would pick her up at her home, but sometimes picked up other girls with her as well.

One of the other girls' mothers did question the frequency of her time with Wallace and complained to the school, the young woman said. Wallace twice told her to lie to the school about the real nature of their relationship, the victim said.

Questioned by Wallace's attorney, Joseph Bodiford, the woman said Wallace helped her with her studies and basketball.

'Coach found out I had an F in algebra, so she took me out of my algebra class and made me sit and study and made sure I did my homework,' the woman said. 'My grade went from an F to a B ... There was a lot of tutoring and a lot of conditioning as far as running and a lot of times, I got a lot of help in basketball'

Steve Hegarty, spokesman for Hillsborough County schools, said Wallace, who started working for the district in August 1999, was suspended without pay in November 2005. The district will wait until the court proceedings are concluded before making a final decision about her job. 'I think it's safe to say she doesn't have a future in teaching at this point,' Hegarty said.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

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