Ashlyn Faye Bell, 24, received a four-year prison term from an all-female jury of her peers.
Teacher’s aide says she was unaware her trysts with her teen boy students were illegal.
Ashlyn Faye Bell, a teacher’s assistant in New Boston, Texas, was convicted for having sex with teen students, despite the fact that she said she was unaware she was barred from doing so as a public school employee.
Ashlyn Faye Bell, 24, was sentenced this week after pleading guilty to several charges related to her sex with students at the public school where she worked, according to the Texarkana Gazette.
An all-female jury sentenced her to four years in prison. Additionally, she was recommended for probation on two additional counts.
Bell is scheduled to return to court in May for a sentencing hearing to assess the total sentence for the three charges to which she pleaded guilty.
Ashlyn Faye Bell would now be forced to register as a sexual offender following her guilty plea to sexual intercourse with three students, two of whom were 17 years old and one of whom was 16 years old.
Bell testified Wednesday that she was unaware of the Texarkana Independent School District’s policy prohibiting staff members other than teachers from having sexual relations with students.
Additionally, she testified that she thought the students were all at least 18 years old.
Bell also testified, according to the Toronto Sun, that the boys were the aggressors in the sexual relationships. The court heard that the single mother sometimes brought her infant to rendezvouses with the students.
Prosecutors disputed Ashlyn Faye Bell’s assertions that she was unaware of the school’s policy banning student-sex and that she thought the boys were 18 or older.
Prosecutors cited the boys’ appearances as well as documents signed by Bell about sexual assault policies.
“All you saw in here was a liar at a time when the truth would have sufficed,” a prosecutor contended. “I’ve heard all the victim blaming I’m interested in hearing.”
Bell’s attorney pleaded with the court for clemency, arguing that the jury could not abandon her young children.
Ashlyn Faye Bell was accused of luring the three boys into sex through her job as a teacher’s assistant in Texarkana prior to her guilty plea.
The scheme was discovered when another teacher overheard one of the boys asking another if he had gotten the woman pregnant, according to previous reports from The United States Sun.
Bell would be prohibited from serving in public schools for the remainder of her sentence as a result of her conviction.
The Gazette reported that it would be approximately two years before Texas parole authorities approve Bell for release.
