Carrie Cabri is an Alabama teacher who claimed it was her constitutional right to have sex with two students who had been sentenced to state prison.
On Thursday, Carrie Cabri Witt received a 10-year sentence, the Decatur Daily, WAAY, and WHNT report. However, Witt will only spend 18 months in state prison, followed by 18 months in a community corrections program. She will serve the remainder of her sentence on probation.
Age
She is 48 years old.
Arrested
The 48-year-old was arrested in March 2016 and charged with having s*x with two students aged 17 and 18. She was a teacher at Decatur High School.
After his arrest, Witt’s lawyers argued that he had a constitutional right to have sex with students. Under Alabama law, anyone over the age of 16 can consent to s*x without a specific disease.
Trial
Witt pleaded guilty in March to one count of a school employee engaging in a sex act with a student under the age of 19. Prosecutors had dismissed a second count.
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His lawyers argued in court documents that state laws prohibiting a school employee from having s*x with a student were unconstitutional. They argued that other laws protect people who cannot give consent due to age, developmental disability, physical disability, and in cases of coercion or fraud, but that none of these clauses apply in this case.
However, prosecutors disagreed, arguing that the law was constitutional and necessary to protect high school students from sexual advances by teachers and other school employees.
Sentenced
According to court documents, a judge refused to dismiss the case. Witt then pleaded guilty at his scheduled trial.
Upon his arrest, Witt apologized for his actions.
“I am ashamed,” he told the judge, reports the Decatur newspaper. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more ashamed of myself.” Since her arrest, she has claimed that her character and “ability to be a mother” have been criticized.
According to the newspaper, one of the victims testified on Thursday that she disagreed with the law prohibiting teachers and school employees from having sex with students.
“The crime does not match the punishment,” he said, defining consensual sex.
Witt faced up to 20 years in prison. As part of your sentence, you must register as a s*x offender.
