Megan Denman walked into court. But she left in handcuffs for jail.
The 30-year-old former Social Studies teacher was immediately taken into custody after the judge sentenced her to six months in the Fresno County jail for having sex with one of her students.
“Ms. Clinton, the deputy D.A., made a point that serving time in custody serves potentially as a deterrent. I suppose there’s a certain amount of truth in that,” said Roger Nuttall, Denman’s attorney.
Denman is also on probation for three years.
But she will not have to register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.
“The fact that the judge found she was not the type of person who should have to register as a sex offender, we're very grateful for that,” Nuttall said.
Denman's sentence is harsher than the punishment handed down to a former Washington Union High School teacher Nadia Diaz, who was sentenced in November to three years probation for having sex with a 15-year-old student. She was 24.
But former University High School teacher Jonathon Malcolm was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Unlike Denman and Diaz, who each had one victim, Malcolm was convicted of sexual misconduct with several students.
