A Maine jury found a married former teacher not guilty on all counts of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old student in 2017.
Jill Lamontagne, 30, was cleared of all 14 counts after an Alfred jury deliberated for two hours on Thursday.
‘I am pleased that the truth worked,’ said the former Kennebunk High School health teacher, after she broke down crying in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
Jill Lamontagne, 30, was cleared of all 14 counts after an Alfred, Maine, jury deliberated for two hours on Thursday
Lamontagne had been accused of having sex with the student – now 19 – in a classroom closet and in her home, the Journal Tribune reports.
The charges against the teacher included unlawful sexual contact and sexual abuse of a minor.
The teacher denied all the charges, taking the stand during her own defense on Wednesday and into the next day.
Lamontagne had been accused of having sex with the student – now 19 – in a classroom closet and in her home back in 2017
Lamontagne asserted that she was helping the teen with his school work and knew that he had had some emotional troubles.
Trying to help him, she stated that she had not referred him to a social worker at the school because she believed that the two would not get a long.
Seeking advice from the counselor, she worked independently with the student.
Twice the alleged victim claimed to have had sex inside the teacher’s home, only for a former colleague and her children’s daycare provider to both testify that she was with them.
Lamontagne was asked to explain the 100 text and 43 calls that the two shared in a six-month period. She was also made to explain why she gave the student a ride without permission from his parents.
She asserted that she never gave the alleged victim her number, adding that it was easy information to find since she was a coach at the school.
She asserted that she was helping the teen with his school work and knew that he had had some emotional troubles.
And on February 26, 2017, she saw that the he ‘had not showered’ and had vomit on his shirt. She was assisting him and asserted that they did not have sex in her car, the Bangor Daily News reports.
The man testified that at the time he was worried about his prospects of graduation and thought that the teacher no longer liked him.
‘I felt like she started to not like me any more,’ he said, during the trial.
The alleged victim claimed that he grew more suicidal as graduation grew closer, skipping the ceremony on June 9 of last year in an attempt to take his life.
He had been admitted to a hospital in Portland after ingesting medicines, cold medicines and blood thinner. While there, he had told his mother that he was in love with the teacher.
Lamontagne’s lawyer, Scott Gardner, asserted that the allegations were just a ‘fantasy of a teen boy’
Lamontagne’s lawyer, Scott Gardner, asserted that the allegations were just a ‘fantasy of a teen boy’
‘This wasn’t a suicide attempt,’ Gardner had said during the trial. ‘This kid was having a nervous breakdown. This was a psychiatric issue.’
Gardner stated that he believed the decision from the jury was appropriate.
‘Jill has been completely exonerated,’ said Gardner.
He added that the school should give the teacher her job back.
But school officials have stuck by their decision, stating that the teacher still did not comply with district standards.
‘Jill has been completely exonerated,’ said Gardner. He added that the school should give the teacher her job back
‘The district respects the judgment of the jury and we commend the administrators, teachers and students who performed an important civic duty by responding to subpoenas from both sides and coming to court to testify,’ said RSU 21 schools superintendent Kathryn Hawes. ‘We are glad that this long and difficult process is now over.
‘Although Ms. Lamontagne was acquitted of the criminal charges, I think it is important to acknowledge that the evidence that was presented during the trial demonstrated a troubling failure by one of our teachers to comply with the standards we expect of all of our employees.
‘For example, RSU 21 prohibits our employees from communicating with students by text and social media platforms, we require our teachers to refer students in crisis to professional counselors rather than attempting to intervene with these students on their own, and we would never condone the use of intimate language, of the type introduced during the trial, between our teachers and their students.’