A former Lawrence school district para-educator accused of having sex with a student after exchanging graphic photos on social media has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

In March, a Douglas County District Court jury convicted Teri Lynn Johnson, 34, of Baldwin City, on one count each of unlawful sexual relations and sexual exploitation of a child, both felonies, and one count of promoting obscenity to a minor, a misdemeanor.

On Friday morning, Judge Peggy Kittel sentenced Johnson to a total of 32 months in prison. Johnson must also register as a sex offender.

In explaining her decision, the judge noted that Johnson had “little to no” criminal record but emphasized the sanctity of the teacher-student relationship.

“A sexually charged learning environment would confuse, disturb and distract students, thus undermining the quality of education in Kansas — which is exactly what happened in this case,” Kittel said.

Johnson has been free on bond since shortly after she was charged and arrested in December 2015.

Several people in the courtroom on Friday sobbed when the verdict was read and hugged Johnson as deputies handcuffed her and led her out of the room.

Teri Lynn Johnson

The crimes happened in fall 2015 when the victim — then 17 — was a student at the Douglas County Juvenile Detention Center’s Day School, where Johnson worked as a paraprofessional. According to the charges, the conduct lasted from August to December of that year, with the unlawful sex occurring in late November.

According to Kittel’s summary of testimony and evidence presented in the case, Johnson and the student started out “flirting” and exchanged Snapchat messages. While the student asked if they could have sex, consent was not an element of the crime in question, Kittel said.

“The defendant is an adult. [Victim’s name], at the time, was a child,” Kittel said. “It’s argued that he had a schoolboy crush on his teacher… Most often this does not end up in a situation where they have sex.”

Kittel said Johnson repeatedly and deliberately engaged the youth in sexual dialogue, including sending more than a dozen photos of herself in various states of nudity and requesting explicit photos from him.

The student had asked her about body piercings in an intimate place, and the teacher engaged that conversation as well, Kittel said. The judge said Johnson could have shut down the conversation at any point but that there was no evidence she did so.

“This court questions why in the world were they discussing her body piercings to begin with in this educational setting,” Kittel said.

“The defendant had numerous, numerous opportunities to disengage in this relationship … This was not just one incident of bad judgment.”

Johnson’s attorney, Branden Smith, had asked the judge for a departure from sentencing guidelines of prison time, noting that his client had three children of her own and also cared for another child she was related to.

The defense also argued that the victim did not suffer irreparable damage from the activity.

The judge disagreed, however. She said the victim’s mother testified that he had been doing well and was on track to transition back to regular high school. After the relationship, Kittel said, the victim lost respect for authority figures in his life, became angry, surly and argumentative and instead stayed at the day school.

“It was like he flipped a switch,” the judge said. “He missed his senior spring semester of having a regular experience as any other student.”