A mother is infuriated this morning as two former teachers who had sexual relations with her 17-year-old son were sentenced to only probation with time in jail stayed.
The couple, Gay Davidson-Shepard, 60, and her husband, Daniel Shepard, 63, pleaded guilty August 30th to multiple felony and misdemeanor counts. Their punishment, as noted earlier, was nothing more than a few years of probation, three and four years in jail stayed, and sixty days of counseling. As you can imagine, the victim’s mother is outraged at the sentencing stating, “Apparently, it boils down to the judge felt my son’s life was worth the Shepards picking up trash for a couple weeks”.
The reason for the light sentence is unknown, but the prosecution argued that not only was this sentence unlawfully light, but that it should of ventured on the side harsh due to the fact that these two were trusted teachers who used their position and marital status to lure this boy back to their house. They continually brought this 17-year-old back to participate in what started out as casual dinner and progressed into alcohol consumption and sexual acts.
Parents should not have to worry about their child when they send them off to school, and they most certainly should not have to worry about the people they trust with their child’s education and growth, but it is acts such as this that continually put fear into worried parents. The severity of these crimes is not taken likely, nor should any false accusations. The Minneapolis criminal lawyers of Gaskins Bennett Birrell Schupp LLP want to encourage you to contact a trusted sex crimes attorney in your areas if you or someone you know is being accused of sexual violations.