Psychology teacher who claimed it was her constitutional right to have sex with students, jailed for 10 years people.com

Carrie Cabri Witt: Credit: Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Via PEOPLE

A female teacher who claimed it was her constitutional right to have sex with students has been sentenced for romps with teen.

Carrie Cabri Witt, 48, was handed a 10-year jail sentence on Thursday, the Decatur Daily, WAAY, WHNT, and Dailystar report.

Witt,  a Psychology teacher at Decatur High School in Alabama was arrested back in March 2016 on accusation of having sex with two students, ages 17 and 18. She made history when a court allowed her to launch a legal campaign claiming rights to have sex with students based on the age of consent.

Witt claimed she was only being prosecuted for a consensual relationship because she was a school employee. She said that the case against her violated her 14th Amendment right to privacy and equal protection, according to WHNT.

Her attorneys argued that she had a constitutional right to have sex with the students, stating that state statutes which prohibit a school employee from having sex with a student are unconstitutional. Under Alabama law, anyone over 16 without a specified infirmity is capable of consenting to sex.

Witt’s attorneys also argued that there are other laws to protect people who are incapable of consent because of age, mental impairment, physical incapacity and in cases of coercion or fraud — but that none of those situations applied in the case.

After more than four years of legal battle, Witt’s challenge was finally quashed by Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, leading to the teacher being sentenced on Thursday for having sex with a 17-year-old student.

Judges rejected her appeal to change the US law, which forbids sex between teachers and students.

Witt later pleaded guilty as charged,

“I’m ashamed,” she told the judge, according to Decatur Daily. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more ashamed of myself,” adding that her character and “ability to be a mother” have been criticized since her arrest.

Witt was initially charged with having sex with two students, but she pleaded guilty to one count of a school employee engaging in a sex act with a student under 19. The other was dismissed by prosecutors.

She almost got away free, according to the Dailystar, citing a news outlet which reported that the charges against Witt had been dropped due to her legal challenge.

The report added that prosecutors appealed against the decision and the judgement was overruled. The charges were then reinstated.

Witt quit her job at Decatur City Schools in 2018, after being on paid administrative leave for two years.

Despite the 10-year sentence, she will only serve 18 months in prison, followed by 18 months in the community corrections program, according to the report. The rest will be served on probation. Witt will also register as a sex offender.

BREAKING NEWS: former #Decatur #Alabama teacher sentenced to
in 10 years /registered as a sex offender. @WAAYTV has you covered on this case that has attracted National media coverage and played out over more than FIVE year legal battle.

BACKGROUND: https://t.co/aHgWR6IUtt pic.twitter.com/VxJv0iTxHy

— Matt Kroschel (@Matt_Kroschel) July 1, 2021