Courtney Louise Jarrell, 23, was sentenced in a state court in West Jordan after pleading guilty to reduced charges of misdemeanor sexual battery in exchange for giving up her teaching license, court records show. Prosecutors say she had an improper sexual relationship with a girl who was 17 years old and a student at Riverton High School. Jarrell taught math and coached basketball at the school at the time but later resigned.
Prosecutors did not ask the judge to give her any time behind bars, though they could have requested up to three years.
Judge Bruce Lubeck said he struggled mightily with deciding on the punishment. He says the two fell in love and had a consensual relationship. Brown said Jarrell is a good person who has paid a heavy price for her error, being ostracized by her friends and robbed of a chance to teach and coach.
When the judge asked Jarrell why he should not send her to jail, a crying Jarrell said losing her hard-earned teaching license has punished her sufficiently.
It was a big deal for me to lose that. Jarrell, who cried and hugged her family after the hearing, is the latest Utah teacher to be charged with having inappropriate sexual relations with a student. Stephen Niedzwiecki, 34, a former science teacher at Jefferson Academy in Kaysville, pleaded guilty to charges of having a relationship with a year-old girl who was a former student.
