A Georgia teacher who is charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old schoolgirl has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The case comes after the victim told investigators she had no idea what she was getting into when she visited a Georgia public school last year.
Her case was the first in the country to be prosecuted under the new state law.
Georgia’s law allows the prosecution of anyone who has sex with a child under 16 without the victim’s consent.
In this case, prosecutors allege that teacher Jason Lee “posed as” a teacher at the GBI-approved school, “to sexually abuse” the teen in April and May.
The teen told investigators Lee had made sexual comments, touched her, and touched her breasts and genitals.
The girl, now 17, told investigators that Lee had also made comments about her, her family, and her friends, but she did not know how Lee was getting her to believe what he was saying.
Her mother, who has been battling cancer for five years, is now battling an infection.
“It was a very painful experience,” the teen told the court.
“It took me a long time to be able to talk to the counselor about what was going on with me.”
According to the Associated Press, the teen was forced to leave school on May 2 after she began vomiting.
The school district and the Georgia Department of Corrections declined to comment to the AP.
