Pamela Joan Rogers (born July 1, 1977) is an American sex offender and a former elementary school physical education teacher and coach who taught in McMinnville, Tennessee. She was convicted of four counts of sexual battery in 2005 and two counts of solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor in 2006 stemming from a three-month relationship with a 13-year-old boy who was her student at Centertown Elementary School. Her case made headlines and was covered by major news networks for being a notorious teacher who had an unlawful sexual relationship with one of her students.[2][3] After getting released in 2012, she was taken into custody in 2015 for allegedly conspiring to smuggle contraband cell phones into a state prison and sentenced to eight years in prison; her case brought headlines and national attention to the practice of cellphone smuggling in prison.[4]
Pamela Joan Rogers | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 1, 1977 |
| Alma mater | Tennessee Technological University Cumberland University |
| Occupation | Former teacher |
| Spouse | Christopher Turner (2003–2005; divorced) |
| Criminal charge | Statutory rape, Sexual battery, Solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor, Introduction of contraband into a penal facility |
| Penalty | Imprisoned: 2005, 2006–2012, 2015–2016[1] |
Personal life
editBorn on July 1, 1977, Rogers attended Tennessee Technological University and Cumberland University, playing basketball for both.[5] She married high school basketball coach Christopher Turner in 2003. They separated in 2004 due to marital difficulties and he filed for divorce in January 2005.[6]
Criminal prosecution
editOn February 4, 2005, Rogers was charged with 15 counts of sexual battery by an authority figure and 13 counts of statutory rape stemming from a three-month relationship with a teenage boy who was her student. On August 12, 2005, Rogers pleaded no contest to four charges of sexual battery by an authority figure as part of a deal with the prosecution.[7] She was given an eight-year suspended sentence, during which she was to serve 270 days in the Warren County jail in Tennessee followed by seven years and three months of probation.[citation needed] She was also ordered to surrender her teaching certificate and register as a sex offender for life because sexual battery by an authority figure is a "violent sexual offense" under the law of the state of Tennessee.[8] The sentence prohibited her from profiting from the case through books and movies as well as barring her from granting interviews for eight years.[citation needed]
Rogers was arrested again on April 24, 2006, on charges that she had sent text messages, nude photos, and sex videos of herself to the same boy while using her father's cellphone. She was also charged for communicating with the boy via blogs and a website.[citation needed] The judge ordered Rogers to remain in jail until her next court hearing. On July 14, 2006, she was sentenced to seven years in prison for violating her probation by sending explicit videos to her former victim and maintaining contact with him via online blogs. Rogers asked for mercy and apologized to her family and the teen's family, saying tearfully to the judge, "I have humiliated myself. What I did was wrong, I am willing to do anything to rehabilitate myself." She asked for local incarceration with therapy. Circuit Judge Bart Stanley denied her request saying, "You have done everything except show this court that you wanted to rehabilitate yourself." He revoked Rogers's probation and ordered her to serve the rest of a seven-year prison sentence at the Tennessee Prison for Women.[9]
Rogers received two additional years of prison time in January 2007, after she pleaded guilty to sending nude photos of herself to the boy.[10] She was released in 2012.[11]
On May 28, 2015, Rogers was indicted by a grand jury for introduction of contraband into a state penal facility and arrested, having allegedly conspired with two others to smuggle cell phones into the state prison where she had previously been incarcerated.[11] She was sentenced to eight years in prison and was scheduled to be free between 2024-2027 depending on finishing her early sentence.[12][13][14]
In 2016, Rogers was featured in the Headline News segment Twisted: Teachers Who Prey.[15]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ https://sor.tbi.tn.gov/details/00396311
- ^ "Notorious teacher sex scandals". CBS News. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ "Ex-Teacher Sent Back to Jail for Sexy Messages". ABC News.
- ^ "Former teacher who had sex with 13-year-old student, back behind bars". 5 June 2015.
- ^ Tenn. community's image of teacher shattered by charges of sex with 13-year-old student | News | wcfcourier.com
- ^ "Attorney says divorce not related to marriage breakup". AP. Archived from the original on March 12, 2005. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
- ^ "Teacher goes to jail for sleeping with student". NBC News. 12 August 2005. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
- ^ "2010 Tennessee Code :: Title 40 – Criminal Procedure :: Chapter 39 – Sexual Offender Registration and Monitoring :: :: Part 2 – Tennessee Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification, and Tracking Act of 2004 :: :: 40-39-202 – Part definitions".
- ^ "Ex-teacher goes to jail for nude photos". Archived from the original on July 19, 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-15.
- ^ "Teacher's Obsession Costs Her Two More Years in Jail". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on January 14, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
- ^ a b Hays, DeAnn (4 June 2015). "Former teacher Pamela Rogers accused trying to get cell phones into prison". WKRN.com.
- ^ "Inmate Locator of the state of Tennessee". foil.app.tn.gov. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
- ^ "Investigation continues regarding man charged with rape". 1057News. 30 July 2017. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ "Man Arrested on Rape Charge Involving Juvenile". 26 July 2017.
- ^ "Twisted: Teachers Who Prey".
References
edit- Felony Offender Information TOMIS ID: 00396311
- Jail For Teacher In Sex Case Aug. 12, 2005