Idaho teacher who had sex with teen then made him drive her home while she was drunk learns her fate

A former Idaho teacher who had sex with a teenage boy then made him drive her home while she was drunk has been sentenced in court.

Jessica Lawson, 36, was jailed on Thursday for a minimum of two years and a maximum of 20 years for felony sexual battery of a minor who was 16 or 17.

Under Senior District Judge Stephen Dunn's ruling, Arizona-born Lawson will be required to register as a sex offender and attend treatment during her jail time and afterwards.

The former South Fremont High School teacher and mother is subject to a 20-year no-contact order with the victim, who had only recently been adopted by his new parents when she took advantage of him.

Lawson's sordid crimes were exposed on November 6 when police pulled the victim over during a traffic stop because the vehicle had no visible headlights.

Authorities discovered that the car belonged to Lawson, whom the boy said allowed him to drive because she was too drunk.

Court documents detail how the boy was also in possession of marijuana at the time.

Police drove him home that night before speaking with his parents the next morning, who said he had grown up in foster homes and they had only adopted him days before.

The teen's parents said Lawson picked the boy up at 11pm on November 6 and drove him to her house in Saint Anthony, Idaho.

They added that the teacher had raped the boy after they drank booze and got high together.

Lawson initially pleaded not guilty to two counts of felony rape of a victim who is 16 or 17, felony delivery of a controlled substance and misdemeanor dispensing alcohol to a minor.

But as part of a court agreement, she pleaded guilty in August to two counts of felony sexual battery of a minor in exchange for the Attorney General's office dropping all other charges.

It was wrapped into another case where Lawson was charged with infraction for permitting an unauthorized minor to drive.

Deputy Attorney General Madison Allen, outlined the details of the case in court.

'Jessica Lawson, who was 36 years old at the time, had an unlawful sexual relationship with a 16-year-old minor male victim when she picked him up from his home secretly without his parents' permission,' she said.

'She took him to her house where the two began to drink alcohol and then they engaged in sex acts together.'

Lawson apologized to the victim and his family after making a self-pitying speech broadcast by East Idaho News , blaming a previous 15-year 'toxic relationship' for her crimes.

'I alone am responsible for my actions, but I believe (a prior) relationship was the catalyst that set me down the path to where I am today,' she told the court room.

'I want to apologize to the victim and his family for any pain that I have caused,' she added while sobbing. 'I want to apologize to the community and anyone I've let down.'

Judge Dunn dismissed Lawson's excuses, telling her: 'I understand you've been through some difficult times.

'There hasn't been one of these cases where I haven't had a female in front of me, a defendant who hasn't told me a similar story, frankly, about usually an abusive marriage and low self-esteem.'

The victim's father lamented the harm that Lawson had brought to the vulnerable young boy.

'It takes a village to raise a young man, especially a young man that has been in and out of foster care, that has never known what it's like to have a mom and a dad,' he told the court.

'My son is going to take a long time to heal and he doesn't even know the wounds that he has yet.

'He's not going to understand those wounds until he's a parent and he's sending his daughter or son...to the house of a parent that he trusts.'

The teenager's mother also told the court people in their local community had lashed out at her over the case.

'We brought (the victim) in because he needed somebody, and he didn't have anybody,' she said.

'It was pretty quick that we realized this is a really great kid, and he's wonderful and he should be in our family.

'He's got a lot of problems because he didn't have a mom and dad that taught him how to recognize safe people.'

'You took advantage of that,' she added, addressing Lawson.

Lawson's lawyer Allen Browning told the court his client wanted to apologize to the victim.

He added that she understood that her jail time was 'in the interest of justice'.