Former Houston teacher impregnated by 13-year-old pleads guilty
HOUSTON -- A former Houston middle school teacher accused of having sex with a 13-year-old boy who impregnated her has pleaded guilty, reports CBS affiliate KHOU.
Alexandria Vera, 24, was originally charged with continuous sex abuse of a child after her June arrest. She pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated sex assault of a child Wednesday, the station reports.
The deal with prosecutors caps any possible prison time at 30 years, the station reports, but her lawyer will ask a judge for probation. Vera could have faced life in prison under the original charge. She was released on bail until her January sentencing.
Vera was an English teacher at Thomas J. Stovall Middle School when she met the boy during summer school last year. She reportedly told investigators they grew close during the following school year, when he was an eighth grade student. Harris County prosecutors say the sexual relationship went on for nine months.
Court documents allege she was introduced to his family as the boy’s girlfriend, and the woman said that his parents supported the relationship and invited her to family gatherings. She reportedly said she told a school district investigator the family was “very supportive and excited” when she disclosed her pregnancy. She allegedly said she and the boy “love each other.”
According to the probable cause document, she aborted the pregnancy after a child welfare investigator questioned her in February about the relationship, which she denied at the time.
Students told KHOU they remember Vera as the “cool teacher” who let kids at the school use cell phones in class. They say they long suspected her to be romantically involved with the student, who prosecutors say was 13 at the time of the alleged crimes and is now 14.
The Aldine School District reportedly investigated and terminated her employment.
“Aldine ISD Police investigated the incident and turned their findings over to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office,” the district said in a statement released to the station in June. “The safety and security of Aldine ISD’s students and staff remains a priority of the school district.”
Vera’s lawyer told KHOU he’ll have no comment until after her January sentencing.
