Ex-Arizona teacher sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex with student

Brittany Zamora, a former Arizona teacher was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for having sex multiple times with one of her students, a 13-year-old boy.

Zamora will spend the rest of her life on probation and must also register as a sex offender. She will receive credit for the more than 400 days she has already spent behind bars.

Zamora had pleaded guilty to sexual conduct with a minor, as well as other reduced charges of public indecency and molestation, according to court records, for having an ongoing sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy in her class at Las Brisas Academy.

She was arrested in March 2018 after the victim’s parents contacted police.

The boy's stepmother discovered that the boy and Zamora had sent each other suggestive and sexual messages and texts. When she confronted her stepson, he said he had sexual contact with Zamora, then 27, authorities said.

The two had fondled each other in the back of her classroom while the other students watched an educational video, and they had had sex in the empty room while a friend kept watch outside, according to documents.

At her sentencing, Zamora said, "I am a good and genuine person who made a mistake and regret it deeply. I lived my life respecting and trying to obey every law. I'm not a threat to society."

She added that her actions were out of character and that she would like to attend counseling and start a new career when she is out of prison.

After the hearing, Zamora's attorney suggested that the 13-year-old student was not as innocent in the encounters. "This was not between a young child and Brittany — this was a teenager," attorney Belen Olmeda Guerra told reporters.