MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. – A former Arizona teacher was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for having sex multiple times with one of her students, a 13-year-old boy.
The sentence, the minimum that 28-year-old Brittany Zamora faced, was the culmination of a highly publicized case that drew international attention, The Arizona Republic reported.
“I am a good and genuine person who made a mistake and regret it deeply,” Zamora told the court in Maricopa County before sentencing, according to the paper. “I lived my life respecting and trying to obey every law. I’m not a threat to society by any means.”
Consequently, she apologized to the victims of her actions, their family and her own relatives, the paper reported. She told the judge that her crimes were out of character and said she’d like to attend counseling. She said she wants to earn a new degree in prison so she can start another career when she regains her freedom.
The parents of the boy found out the married Zamora was having sex with their son after they began monitoring his phone with an app.
Zamora taught sixth-grade students at Las Brisas Academy in Goodyear. She was arrested in March 2018 and pleaded guilty last month to charges of sexual conduct with a minor, attempted molestation of a child and public sexual indecency.
On one occasion, Zamora asked an 11-year-old boy who was a friend of the 13-year-old to stand watch during an encounter in her classroom, the paper reported.
“Ms. Zamora lures these boys, earns their trust and then takes advantage of them purely to fill her own sexual desires,” the mother of the boy who was asked to serve as a lookout said in court, the paper reported. “She used her position of power to molest a child.
“She’s a pedophile and no different than if a man were sitting in her place right now.”
The 13-year-old victim’s family members were not at the sentencing, but their statements were read by their lawyer, KVOA-TV reported
The boy’s mother said she hated Zamora for what she’d done to her child.
