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Special ed teacher sentenced to jail for sex with underage student

A high school special-education teacher who admitted to having sex with one of her 17-year-old former students, and is currently expecting his child, is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in a dow
Special ed teacher sentenced to jail for sex with underage student

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A high school special-education teacher who admitted having sex with one of her former students -- and is pregnant with his baby -- was sentenced Wednesday to a year in jail but will be released early to deliver and care for the child.

Kelly McKenzy Watson, 34, was also placed on three years felony probation, during which she is not allowed to work with minors, and was ordered to undergo counseling.

Judge Laura Halgren said Watson -- who is due April 5 -- did not have to register as a sex offender.

Attorneys said the unborn child's father -- who turns 18 in April -- is in love with Watson and plans to be part of the child's life despite a no-contact order put in place by the judge. Halgren said the victim could be present for the birth.

The defendant pleaded guilty in November to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. According to a psychological evaluation, Watson is not sexually promiscuous but was naive and immature when she got involved with the then-16-year-old boy.

Halgren said the relationship between defendant and victim "was not an ideal parenting situation," but said Watson was not a danger to re-offend. The judge said Watson "violated the public's trust" when she had sex with a former student.

Watson, who was arrested last Aug. 9, met the boy when he was a student in her class at the New Haven residential school in Vista, said Lt. Anastasia Smith of the San Diego Police Department.

The lieutenant said Watson was the boy's teacher at New Haven for several semesters from September 2010 until August 2011. New Haven works with troubled and at-risk teens.

San Diego police sex crimes detectives received a tip last July 30 about inappropriate conduct between Watson and the former student and later determined she had a dating relationship with him several months earlier, Smith said.

Deputy District Attorney Mary-Ellen Barrett said the victim was released from the residential facility in January 2012 and he and Watson were together two weeks later.

Watson had been a special-education teacher for seven years and hopes to work in adult education someday, according to defense attorney David R. Cohn.

He said Watson has been living with family members in Bakersfield and working in accounting.

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