A Miami-Dade teacher who was found guilty of having sex with one of his students inside his classroom seven years ago was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday.
Jason Meyers, who taught at Miami Palmetto Senior High School at the time, was convicted in late January of three counts of sexual activity with a minor by a person in custodial authority following his February 2016 arrest.
Meyers was teaching creative writing when Heaven Rubin, who was 17 at the time, said Meyers had sex with her inside his classroom. Prosecutors said Meyers was mentoring Rubin and started to encourage her to include sexual themes in her poetry, which eventually led to the inappropriate relationship.
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Meyers has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. He spoke up for the first time Monday, wanting to be released through his appeal process and also wanted a new trial. But the judge denied it all and sentenced him to 20 years in state prison and 10 years probation.
"My husband is an innocent man. He has maintained his innocence since the start," Meyers' wife said. "You heard him speak today. That is the first time he has shared anything with the public. Our children are the victims here. We are the victims here. Not having him in my life…I don’t even have the words to describe that. It's devastating to us."
The NBC 6 Investigators have been following Meyers' case for years and found a total of eight former students accusing him of misconduct, from inappropriate assignments to sexual relationships — allegations he’s repeatedly denied.
In addition to his wife, Meyers also brought in a former student to support him Monday to testify. She said he inspired her and he was always great to her.
Meyers' attorneys plan to appeal the decision.
