Former special education teacher sentenced for having sex with students

RIVERSIDE, CA -- A former special education teacher was sentenced Friday to three years in jail for sex acts with five students at Centennial High School in Corona.

Summer Hansen pleaded guilty last month to 16 sex-related felonies with underage students, including sending nude photos of herself. None of the victims - between ages 14 and 17, were her students. She met them at Saturday school.

Hansen entered a plea to the court, essentially pleading guilty to all her charges and accepting the judge's sentence.

Prosecutors and the victim's family opposed the short sentence.

"Teaching young impressionable children how to have sex in classrooms, in storage rooms, in cars, these are not the life skills I want my child to learn," a victim's mother said. "Three years is a slap on the wrist for this sexual predator. It is a slap in the face for the victims and their families."

In court, Hansen apologized amid tears.

"From the bottom of my heart, everything that I have, I'm not a monster. I made bad choices in life. For that, I am truly, truly sorry," Hansen said while choking up.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Becky Dugan voiced little sympathy.

"Not just one kid, but multiple kids. That's a plan. You're making a plan and continue to do it. I think you are sorry for the last two years, but frankly you're just sorry that you got caught," Dugan said.

If Hansen had been convicted of all counts by a jury, she could have faced 13 years in state prison.