New Smyrna Beach, FL - A former New Smyrna Beach Middle School teacher could get up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in court to having sex with a 14-year-old student and sending him naked photos.
27-year-old Stephanie Peterson pleaded guilty in court on Tuesday (October 16th) to two felonies, including lewd and lascivious battery sex act with a child and transmitting harmful material to minors through an electronic device.
As part of the plea deal with the office of Florida 7th Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza, prosecutors agreed to drop a second count of lewd and lascivious battery sex act with a child and not go for the maximum sentence allowed by law of up to 15 years in prison for that crime. The max she could get for the other charge is five years.
Upon release from prison, Peterson would be required to register as a sex offender, per Larizza spokesman Bryan Shorstein.
No sentencing date has been set, but a pre-trial conference has been scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on December 18th in front of 7th Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano.
Peterson was arrested last February by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, around three months after the sexual relationship with the boy started and a few days after she resigned her teaching position with Volusia County Schools.
