Posted on 05/11/2025 5:47:10 AM PDT by Red Badger
A former San Diego County Teacher of the Year who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two of her sixth-grade students was sentenced Friday to 30 years behind bars.
The sentence was part of the deal Jacqueline Ma, 36, struck in pleading guilty Feb. 5 to two counts of forcible lewd acts with a child under age 14 and also admitting to a lewd act with a child under age 14. Both children had been students at Lincoln Acres Elementary School, where Ma was a teacher.
Ma also pleaded guilty to a count of possessing material containing a minor engaged in or simulating sexual conduct.
The District Attorney’s Office said she groomed boys with “gifts, food and special attention and even completed their homework for them.”
Before handing down the sentence, Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Enrique Camarena said Ma had cultivated the sexual relationships in plain sight over an extended period, but she was protected from scrutiny due to her status as an award-winning teacher.
“This isn’t just a one-day accident, mistake, bad judgment or evil act,” Camarena said. “(The sentencing) encompasses punishment for a prolonged pattern of child sexual abuse.”
Before her sentence was read, Ma was allowed to address the public and her family, who were filling a row of seats in the gallery. With her hands in cuffs, the former teacher apologized to the victims and their families, and said she had “disgraced the teaching profession.”
“I abused my authority, I exerted my power and control over them, and I deceived them,” Ma said through tears. “Boys this age should be playing outside, feeling carefree … I ripped away their childhood.”
Ma went on to call her crimes selfish, said she manipulated the two boys and their families, and that her actions would be traumatizing for the victims and her community for years to come.
“I lied to their faces while secretly abusing their sons,” Ma said. “I just pray for extra protection and strength for all those (affected).”
Deputy District Attorney Drew Hart said after the hearing that although Ma took accountability and expressed remorse in the courtroom, he felt the sentencing was appropriate.
Hart said the mother of the 12-year-old victim did not have a statement for Ma. The mother of the 11-year-old victim directed the prosecutor to tell Ma that she had trusted the former teacher and had been left speechless by her crimes.
“These parents knew Ms. Ma. They knew who she was, and they trusted her,” Hart said. “And so finding out not just that their child was abused, but finding out that they were abused by someone whom they trusted with their children and to care for their children, was incredibly devastating.”
In addition to paying thousands of dollars in fines and registering as a sex offender, Ma will be required to serve all 30 years of her sentence before a parole board allows her out of custody, Hart said.
Ma had taught fifth and sixth grades in the National School District since 2013. In August 2022, she was one of five teachers in the region selected as a San Diego County Teacher of the Year.
She was arrested seven months later. In March 2023, the parent of a 12-year-old boy reached out to National City police to report a suspected inappropriate relationship with their son.
Prosecutors said Ma had been using video game chat rooms and a family tablet to communicate with the 12-year-old. Hart said the physical relationship between the two began in late 2022, a few months before the messages were found by the boy’s parents.
The boy’s parents reportedly did not allow him to have social media or his own electronics. But investigators learned Ma was able to get access to him by setting up an unsanctioned after-school program and talking with him through a school chat application.
The sexual assaults occurred in Ma’s classroom over three months while the boy’s parents thought he was enrolled in an after-school basketball program, prosecutors said.
The investigation into Ma revealed a second suspected victim — a boy who was 11 years old when prosecutors say she sent him sexually charged messages in 2020, according to testimony at her preliminary hearing.
The 11-year-old boy was reportedly approached by Ma in 2020, but he fled the room, Hart said.
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Thank you very much and God bless you.
Chinawoman actin’ white?
Yup...off to jail....just like all the priests...
You're not the only one, toots.
That’s a dude
.
Wow! So he/she checked ALL the boxes!
Yoko Ono? Oh, no!
And pastors and scouts leaders.
🙂
She look like a man.
I guess she loved her students. /s
Her statement sounds repentant. Pray for her. I wish she was celebrating a virtuous Mothers Day with an attentive husband and adorable children of her own.
The school district will be forced to pay out millions upon millions to the families, as these cases usually do:
“In 2020, LAUSD agreed to pay more than $25 million to settle lawsuits over alleged sexual misconduct, including cases related to former teachers at Telfair and De La Torre elementary schools.”
I’ve seen worse.............
Reminds me of a buddy years ago who was dating a very attractive gal. Hispanic roots, beautiful brown eyes, great figure. After they broke up, chatting over a few beers with my buddy, I told him I thought she was very attractive but I thought she wore a little too much make-up. He said the first time they spent the night together, he was caught a little off guard. He said in the morning, without make-up, she seriously looked like a "sorta cute chimpanzee" with an amazing human female body.
What she did is wrong and clearly must be punished, but….I’m sorry 30 years with no parole seems a bit excessive. In many cases, We don’t give that to people who kill people.
“seriously looked like a “sorta cute chimpanzee” with an amazing human female body.”
LOLOL!!! You made my morning!
Ah, yes, “the magic of makeup”!
And how many years are those kids gonna carry this trauma? Is there an expiration date for that? Dim.....
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