A teacher who had sexual relations with a 14-year-old pupil has broken down into tears after the mother of the victim told her how the horrific abuse effected her child and their family
A paedo teacher who sexually abused one of her students wept in court as she apologised for “failing” her 14-year-old victim. Disgraced Amanda Leigh Quinonez, 34, sobbed as the child’s mum told of the horror the teen went through due to her actions.
Swim teacher Quinonez previously pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object, two counts of providing sexually explicit material to a minor and one count of lewd acts on a child.
As she appeared in the dock for sentencing, she broke down as she admitted she failed as a teacher and said she hopes her own daughter would not judge her by the woman she is today, but “by the woman she will become”.
Her victim – who cannot be named for legal reasons – and his older brother had to leave Eleanor Roosevelt High School in California due to bullying from other students when word got out about the twisted relationship.
Quinonez was arrested in April 2022. The boy’s mum recalled the disturbing moment she found her teenage son sitting silently next to a police officer after the sick teacher was busted.
She said she had gone into the baseball field looking for her son and asked a baseball coach where her child was. The coach stayed silent.
She then asked a second baseball coach who directed her back to the first. The first coach later told her that her son was in the administration building. The mother then took off to the building where she found her son next to a Sheriff’s Deputy.
She was then informed about the sexual relationship between her teenaged child and the swimming teacher Quinonez. The boy, then 14, admitted to the relationship and stated Quinonez had told him he needed to protect her.
The heartbroken mum held back tears as she told court her son had endured significant hardship because of the abuse and said other classmates were still talking about the ordeal four years on.
Quinonez was a language arts teacher and first started chatting with the boy in 2020, local media reports. She sent him nude photos which led to intimate meetings, police said. Unnamed witnesses first raised the alarm over her alarming behaviour.
School principal Greg Anderson publicly admitted there had been an “inappropriate relationship” following the teacher’s arrest. In a letter sent to parents, he said the Corona-Norco Unified School District had “zero tolerance for any behavior that endangers our students”.
Quinonez is set to be taken into custody on Tuesday after being freeds on £36,000 bond. She will be sent to state prison for mental evaluation and will later return to court on November 10 for sentencing.