A former North Georgia teacher will serve jail time after prosecutors said she had a sexual relationship with an underage student.
Raquel Eleana Spencer was sentenced to 10 years after pleading guilty Friday to sexual assault by a person with supervisory and disciplinary authority, the Dalton Daily Citizen reported.
Spencer must serve 90 to 120 days in a probation detention center, a highly-structured, minimum security facility that provides counseling, life skills classes and substance abuse counseling, the Dalton Daily Citizen reported. She must also pay a $1,000 fine plus court costs and surcharges, perform 300 hours of community service and observe all sex offender special conditions of probation.
Spencer had been an English teacher at Northwest Whitfield High school since 2013, and was an assistant cheerleading and girls track and field coach there. She was arrested in April 2018 after staff and students at school noticed her behaving unusually and notified school officials.
Spencer consented to a search, and heroin was found on her personal property, AJC.com previously reported.
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A day later, additional charges were added when investigators determined Spencer was sexually involved with a student.
The Whitfield County Sheriff's Office told the Dalton Daily Citizen that its preliminary investigation revealed Spencer was allegedly involved in a sexual relationship with a student for at least a year. The student was underage at the time.
MORE: Cops: Teacher found with heroin at school had relationship with student
A charge against Spencer for possession of a Schedule 1 controlled substance was dropped as part of a plea agreement, the Dalton Daily Citizen reported.
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