Arizona Teacher Serving 20-Year Sentence For Having Sex With Her Student
Pretty gross.
Instagram In 1984, Van Halen had a hit song with "Hot For Teacher." The 1980s, however, were a very different time, and it's safe to say that David Lee Roth and company were all well over the age of consent when they wanted to get busy with the girl from Cherry Lane who got so bold. It's a whole different ball of wax when the teacher in question is a full and legal adult, and the student in question is a long way off from the age of consent. But that's exactly what happened in Arizona, where a teacher was recently sentenced to 20 years for having sex with one of her students. Who is Brittany Zamora, and what do we know about her?
1. Brittany Zamora's husband tried to cover up the assault.
TRIGGER WARNING: Description of sexual assault.
According to KTAR, Brittany Zamora was a sixth-grade teacher when she met the then-13-year-old whom she would subsequently have sex with. It's unclear how long the assault continued on for, but what is clear is that Brittany's husband, Daniel, not only knew that his wife was having sex with a 13-year-old student of hers, he begged the family of the victim to not go public with the assault. As a result, the family of the victim sued the Zamora family for damages, which Daniel Zamora ultimately paid out.
"The teacher’s husband allegedly called the victim’s parents and asked them not to report the molestation to the police. The sixth-grade teacher’s husband faced a lawsuit from the family alleging that he knew about her sexual [assault] with the teenager at Las Brisas Academy in Goodyear and failed to report it. An attorney for the family told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Monday that the settlement was for a confidential amount and is still subject to approval by a probate court," reported the outlet, who added that the family also sued the Liberty Elementary School District for their failure to follow up; that lawsuit is still pending.
2. The victim's family said that it all started with an online classroom app.
TRIGGER WARNING: Description of sexual assault.
According to Oxygen, the family of the victim said that it all started when the victim downloaded an app called the Class Craft app, which was an app that Zamora used in the classroom. The outlet reported that while the victim and Zamora first used the app to merely communicate with the victim, she eventually used the app to send sexually explicit messages, and even nudes, to the victim. Ultimately, she had sex with the victim in front of his friend. The outlet also reports that as a result of the abuse, he's experiencing "behavioral issues" that didn't exist prior to the assault.
"Steven Weinberger, who represents the victim and his family, said sometimes the family is approached while they are out in public and questioned by members of their community. Weinberger called that “very difficult for them, very embarrassing, very humiliating.” "They wouldn’t wish this on anyone else,” he said. The lawyer said that the family worries about the future of the victim and his relationship with women because of the sexual abuse. The victim's parents have also filed a civil lawsuit against Zamora and the school district, seeking $2.5 million in damages," reported the outlet.
3. Brittany Zamora was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her crime — and there was another student she was grooming, as well.
According to AZ Central, Brittany Zamora struck a plea deal with the prosecutors, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the assault of one victim, plus her role in grooming another victim, as well. She is serving her sentence at the Arizona State Prison Complex — Perryville in Goodyear, AZ.
"Zamora, 28, was sentenced to 20 years in prison — the lowest possible sentence allowed for her crime under a plea deal — after she pleaded guilty to molesting one male sixth-grade student and grooming another. She will get credit for the 478 days she's already served in jail. Zamora will be on probation for the rest of her life and must register as a sex offender after she is released in the year 2038," reported the outlet, who adds that the complex also houses infamous killer Jodi Arias, as well.
4. The victim's family has nothing but terrible things to say about Brittany Zamora, and rightly so.
According to Inside Edition, the victim's family has — justifiably — nothing but animosity towards Brittany Zamora. The boy's stepmother made her feelings known during Zamora's sentencing hearing in Goodyear, AZ.
"Let this sink into your head, Brittany. Your mind is foul, your heart is ugly and you disgust me. You deserve to be put away until you're of an age where you cannot bear children of your own," reported the outlet, who added that Zamora's attorney tried to paint the victim as a "perpetrator" in the crime (which, frankly, is pretty disgusting).
5. Brittany Zamora is being compared to Jeffrey Epstein.
Let's be clear about one very important thing: sex between two consenting adults, regardless of gender or sex, is a beautiful thing. Sex between an adult and a child, however, is a crime, and no matter what a child does, it is up to the adult to make the wise decision and stay away from a child, sexually, until that child is a full and legal adult. Anything less than that is, at best, an abdication of responsibility, and at worst, a crime.
So even though Brittany Zamora's attorney tried to paint her victim as a perpetrator — someone who tried to seduce his teacher and got what he wanted — the reality, according to a different report from AZ Central, is that but for her gender, Brittany Zamora and Jeffrey Epstein are one in the same.
"Let's call a spade a spade. This is victim-blaming, plain and simple. "Saying a 13-year-old seduced her," responded Russ Richelsoph, an attorney for the victim's guardians, "that's what you see from hardcore child predators." In this state, anyone younger than 18 cannot legally consent to sex with an older person. It doesn't matter if the victim was a boy. It doesn't matter if he flirted back. It doesn't matter if he conducted himself poorly in school. It doesn't matter if the abuser was physically attractive. Zamora was the adult in the position of power. Instead, she abused it. And it is rape – not sex. It's necessary that the public and media alike speak plainly on it," they wrote.
We couldn't have said it better ourselves.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. For more information about Bernadette Giacomazzo, click here.