Former High School Teacher Pleads Guilty In Student Sex Case
JOLIET (CBS) -- The former southwest suburban teacher who became embroiled in a sex scandal with a male student said she wished "with all of my heart" that she could "take it back."
Ashley Blumenshine, 29, of Marseilles, pleaded guilty Friday in Will County Court to a felony charge of traveling to meet a minor, her lawyer, George Lenard, told the Herald-News.
As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Blumenshine was sentenced to two years of probation and 30 days in jail, with day-for-day credit, and credit for four days served, Lenard said.
Blumenshine, who surrendered to sheriff's deputies Friday to serve her jail sentence, also will have to register as a sex offender for 10 years, Lenard said.
In a letter she wrote in January 2012 that was added to her court file on April 8, Blumenshine wrote that she wished she could undo her actions and has a hard time forgiving herself for what happened.
"In my wildest dreams I never would have thought that this turn of events would have happened to me," she wrote. "... somewhere within a few months time, I lost Ashley.
"I cannot take back what I did; I can only show everyone including myself that I am a good person and one who will never make the same mistake twice."
Blumenshine was charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse after she was found Jan. 4, 2011, in a car with a male student behind a department store on Route 59 in Plainfield.
In her letter, Blumenshine apologized to the student and his family as well as her family, friends, former students and the Plainfield North High School.
Blumenshine said she has been working as a bank teller, that she bought a house, began dating a church-going man, and that, "most importantly," she found God again.
She also said she would like to go back to school to become a physical therapist.
Blumenshine was a physical education and dance teacher from 2006 to 2011 at Plainfield North, where she coached golf from 2008-10. She was also a summer driver's education teacher in 2008.
Blumenshine resigned from her tenured position after her arrest.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
