Kentucky teacher sentenced to six years for sex

 Nov 20, 2021 Source wdrb

CYNTHIANA, Ky. (AP) — A former Kentucky teacher has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to sex abuse.

A judge sentenced Amanda Carol Phillips, 40, on Tuesday in Harrison Circuit Court, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. In addition, she was ordered to surrender her teaching certificate and must register as a sex offender, according to the newspaper.

Phillips pleaded guilty in August to four counts of first-degree sexual abuse, according to the final judgment in the case. She was originally indicted by a grand jury in 2019 on charges of rape, sex abuse and sodomy involving a juvenile who had been her student, police said.

The suit claims that the abuse began during the child’s fifth-grade year and continued for at least six months. It suggests that the abuse occurred at Phillips’ and her husband’s home in Cynthiana and says Phillips exposed the boy to sexual contact “on more than ten occasions.” The suit alleges that Phillips admitted to the sexual contact and coached the boy on “how to evade detection.” She “used her position of trust and authority as the child’s educator and family friend” to get access to the child, who has suffered “serious psychological and emotional distress” as a result of the abuse, according to the lawsuit. His guardian, who filed the lawsuit, alleges that she also suffered emotional distress. The Herald-Leader is not naming the plaintiff to avoid identifying a victim of sexual abuse. The lawsuit also names Phillips’ husband, Patrick Phillips, as a defendant, alleging that he “ignored warning signs of sexual abuse,” among other allegations.

When Amanda Phillips was arrested in early 2019, WKYT reported that she was listed as a teacher at Eastside Elementary School. Harrison County Schools said then that she was no longer employed with the district because of the allegations, which the television station said involved a child who was over 12 years old at the time of the abuse. The judge in Phillips’ criminal case ordered that she serve at least 85 per cent of her six-year sentence.

Before her release, she’ll be required to complete a sex offender treatment program, according to the judgment. After she is released, she’ll be subject to five years of supervision, and she will be required to remain on the sex offender registry for the rest of her life. This story was originally published November 19, 2021 7:35 PM.

Source: kentucky