LEBANON, Va. –
On Tuesday, January 11, 2011, the Commonwealth of Virginia rested its case in the two-day jury trial against the former Lebanon Middle School teacher, Connie Beth Klewer, who was charged with four felonies and one misdemeanor offense for having inappropriate contact with a former student. After hearing closing arguments, it took the jury only 45 minutes to render guilty verdicts on all five charges against Klewer.
Klewer is presently being held in the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail in Abingdon, and will remain there until after her official sentencing date on March 13.
The case stemmed from incidents occurring in July, 2009, in which Klewer, the 37 year old teacher was charged with multiples incidents of inappropriate contact with a fourteen year old student. Klewer was found guilty of: three counts of Using communications device to solicit a minor; one count of Possession of child pornography and one count of Contributing to Delinquency of a Minor.
Brian Patton, Russell County Commonwealth’s Attorney, was the prosecutor on the case. During his opening statement, Patton summarized the case, which was largely based on graphic images, and sexually explicit emails and text messages sent by Klewer to the victim’s cell phone and email account.
The inappropriate contact was first discovered by the victim’s mother who had become suspicious and checked the boy’s phone.
The victim and his mother reported the crimes to the Russell County Sheriff’s Office on July 9, 2009, at which time the Detective Division conducted an investigation and an undercover sting operation against Klewer. Patton told the jury that the victim trusted Klewer and even warned her that his mother had found his phone, however, she still continued to send explicit text messages to him and made arrangements to meet him at a local park. On July 9, 2009, Klewer was arrested while waiting on the 14 year old boy, sitting in her car with her phone in her hand.
At the sentencing phase of the trial, Klewer’s mother testified that her daughter may have suffered from bipolar disorder caused by a change in air pressure following a June, 2009, trip to Colorado, however, no medical evidence was presented verifying this information. After one hour of deliberating over a punishment for Klewer, the jury recommended a 32 1?2 year sentence.
Following the jury’s recommendation, Patton stated, “we are blessed to have such talented and dedicated teachers in the Russell County school system. Ms. Klewer’s actions are certainly not representative of the educational community. I believe the jury considered that Ms. Klewer was in a position of public trust when she committed these crimes.” Patton further stated, “I also want to commend the victim and his family who had the courage to come forward and report these acts to authorities, and I hope that he is now able to move forward with his life and put this negative experience behind him.”
Patton declined to comment on the specifics of Klewer’s case until after the sentencing.
Article source: http://www2.tricities.com/news/2011/jan/14/lebanon-teacher-found-guilty-jury-recommends-more–ar-774747/
Category: Prison Time