A former teacher of the year from California has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for grooming and sexually assaulting two elementary school students.
Jacqueline Ma, 36, had been a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Lincoln Acres Elementary School in National City.
‘I just pray for an extra hand of protection and strength to all of those I’ve hurt. I’m so sorry.’
Ma was named teacher of the year for the 2022-2023 academic year by the San Diego County Office of Education.
On Feb. 5, Ma pleaded guilty to two counts of forcible lewd act on a child, one count of lewd act on a child, and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material, including allegations of substantial sexual conduct and having multiple victims.
In March 2023, Jacqueline Ma was arrested and hit with three felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child and three felony counts of oral copulation.
In March 2023, the mother of one of the victims found inappropriate messages on a family tablet between the student and teacher.
The boy’s parents did not allow him to have social media or his own electronics, the DA stated. However, Ma was allegedly able to communicate with him through an unsanctioned after-school program and through a school chat application.
The district attorney’s office said Ma had groomed the minor for over a year before performing sexual acts on him when he was 12.
Ma committed the sexual acts in her classroom while the parents believed their son was playing in an after-school basketball program, and the sexual abuse continued for three months.
Further investigation found that Ma had groomed and sexually assaulted another student in 2020, who was 11 at the time.
Ma had been grooming the young boys with gifts, food, special attention, and doing their homework for them.
As previously reported by Blaze News, Deputy District Attorney Drew Hart said Ma had a photograph of the boy in her wallet, she had jewelry with his initials, and love letters to the boy were found in her classroom.
Hart described Ma’s behavior toward the first victim as “obsessive, possessive, controlling, and dangerous.”
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement, “This defendant violated the trust she had with her students in the most extreme and traumatic way possible, and her actions are despicable.”
“Her victims will have to deal with a lifetime of negative effects, and her 30-year sentence is appropriate,” Stephan stated. “No child deserves what this defendant did, and I hope this sentence brings a measure of justice to the victims, their families, and the community that was left reeling from this defendant’s crimes.”
Ma must serve the full 30 years before she is eligible for parole, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
At her sentencing on Friday, Ma said she was “deeply ashamed of my actions” and apologized for ripping the “childhood” of the sexual abuse victims.
“Instead of following the path of what a teacher should be, I let my selfishness override the boys’ best interests,” Ma told the court through tears, according to KNSD-TV.
“I just pray for an extra hand of protection and strength to all of those I’ve hurt. I’m so sorry,” Ma said during the sentencing, according to KGTV-TV.
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