Posted on 11/18/2003 2:41:09 PM PST by L.N. Smithee
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. -- A high school assistant coach sentenced in March to three years for having sex with two students was ordered released on time served Monday.
Jennifer Joy Brooks, 28, will still not be allowed to coach, teach or have any contact with minors and will serve seven years of sex offender probation. She also must undergo psychological treatment, cannot get involved romantically with anyone who has children and cannot have contact with the victims.
Brooks had been held after pleading no contest to unlawful sexual activity and committing a lewd and lascivious act. The victims were on the girls' varsity basketball and softball teams at Charlotte High, where Brooks was an assistant coach during the 1999-2000 school year.
Thomas Marryott, Brooks' lawyer, argued in a sentence reduction hearing last week that Brooks should be released because the victims never wanted her jailed. But the father of one the victims said during that hearing he believed the only way to continue to ensure his daughter's safety is to keep Brooks behind bars.
"I really do not believe Jenny is a threat in any way or any kind," Brooks' father, the Rev. Sam Brooks, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune for its Tuesday editions.
Prosecutor John L. Burns said he was disappointed by Circuit Judge Isaac Anderson Jr.'s decision. Burns said Brooks freely and voluntarily accepted the prison deal on second-degree felonies that could have put her in prison for up to 30 years.
Brooks had not been released as of late Monday, according to jail officials.
A former Charlotte High School assistant coach charged with having sex with two student athletes made a plea agreement that will put her in prison for three years.
Jennifer Joy Brooks, 27, pleaded no contest Thursday to unlawful sexual activity and committing a lewd and lascivious act.
She remains free on $10,000 bail until sentencing on March 25.
The Port Charlotte woman would have faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted at a trial. The victims were on the girls' varsity basketball and softball teams at Charlotte High, where Brooks worked as an assistant coach during the 1999-2000 school year.
As part of the plea agreement, Brooks must also spend seven years on sex offender probation. She will not be allowed to coach, teach or have any contact with minors. She also must undergo psychological treatment, cannot get involved romantically with anyone who has children and will be subject to random searches.
She and Brooks became friends and started attending church together in November 1999, according to Charlotte County sheriff's reports. The relationship became sexual shortly after the girl's 15th birthday in January 2000, and continued into the next year.
Detectives learned about the second victim during the investigation into claims by the first girl. That sexual affair, with a 17-year-old, began in April 2000, the reports state.
One of the victims wrote a letter to Judge Sherra Winesett on Wednesday asking that Brooks not be sent to prison. State prosecutor John Burns said the other victim's wishes were similar.
"Neither wanted her to go to prison; we took that into account," Burns said. "The unfortunate thing is that she took advantage of her position of trust. That's what makes this so egregious."
For that matter, I don't know what the "second S" and "third S" stand for, either.......
There are imaginative, legal, virtually moral, yet very scary and effective ways to assure that a sick puke will keep away from one's loved ones.
Call it an art, call it a skill, or call it whatever you will. But a wise man once said that it is best to do something yourself if you want to make sure that things turn out right....... 8~)
Who needs 'em?
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