Former Broward Teacher Accused of Sex With Student Gets 3 Years in Prison

Teacher accused of relationship with 14-year-old student takes plea deal

A former Broward County middle school teacher accused of carrying on a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student accepted a plea deal Monday that will put her behind bars but won't label her a sexual predator.

Kristen Sullivan, 27, was in a Broward courtroom to accept the deal, which puts her away for three years with five years' probation upon her release.

As part of the deal, Sullivan pleaded no contest to charges of aggravated battery and aggravated child abuse.

Sullivan had faced two counts of sexual battery on a minor and two counts of lewd and lascivious battery a minor. The sexual battery charge, a first-degree felony, carries 30-year sentences on both counts. The lewd and lascivious battery charges carry maximum terms of 15 years behind bars on each count.

Prosecutors had offered Sullivan a second deal that would have kept her out of prison but have her labeled a sexual predator.

Sullivan was arrested in April 2010, after the teen boy's girlfriend found out the two were having sex, authorities said.

Sullivan, who resides in Plantation, taught computers at Lauderhill Middle School and had worked at the Broward School District's Educational Technology Services Department.

Police say the relationship lasted about a year and the two may have been having sex since May of 2009 when the boy was 13. They first had sex in a computer storage room at the school, the boy told police, and would sometimes have sex at least three times in a day.

Sullivan also gave the boy gifts like a mobile phone, jewelry and cash, police said. But when the boy's girlfriend found text messages from the teacher that indicated a sexual relationship, she confronted him and he confessed to the relationship, police said.

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