SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - Married former teachers have been sentenced to prison terms following sex abuse convictions in Pennsylvania involving a teenage former student.
A Lackawanna County jury in June convicted 31-year-old Nicodemo Baggetta and 37-year-old Ruth Baggetta of institutional sexual assault and other charges.
President Judge Michael Barrasse sentenced Nick Baggetta to 4 1/2 to nine years in prison Tuesday and Ruth Baggetta to 2 1/2 to six years in prison.
The now-19-year-old woman testified during the trial that her sexual relationship with Nick Baggetta started when she was 16. She said Ruth Baggetta encouraged the relationship.
At the time, Nick was a teacher at Fell Charter School near Carbondale, Ruth was a band director at Lakeland High School.
The couple maintained that they were just trying to help the girl through mental health issues and the relationship wasn’t sexual. Prosecutors cited text messages which weren’t sexually explicit but were frequent, often more than 80 times per day.
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