December 30, 2009 12:50 PM
- Text
Ashley Jo Beach, Middle School Teacher, Sentenced to 20 Years for Seducing 13-Year-Old Student

(KBCI)

(KBCI)
Photo: Ashley Jo Beach in court Dec. 29.
Meridian, Idaho police say back in September, Beach, a 38-year-old middle school teacher, was caught in the bushes with the teen, a former student.
"The trust that I destroyed with my family and the community haunts me daily," Beach said in court, Dec. 29, according to CBS affiliate KBCI.
Photo: Ashley Jo Beach and husband Shawn Beach in his and hers booking photos.
Prosecutors said Beach had targeted the boy from their first contact in April when he was only 12.
"She began grooming him when he was in 6th grade and she was his teacher," said Jean Fisher, the prosecuting attorney. "The grooming was methodical and it was calculated."
During the course of the investigation against Ashley Jo Beach, her husband, Shawn Beach, was also arrested. Prosecutors say Shawn Beach, a former employee of the Ada County Sheriff's office, took naked photos of female inmates in the Ada County Jail and sent them to his wife.
They say he was jealous of his wife's affair with the boy and wanted to strike back at her. He is facing charges of video voyeurism.
Prosecutor Fisher said Ashley Jo Beach bought the boy shoes and clothes and admitted she loved and needed the boy who she called the "light of her life."
She also wanted him to mow her lawn and babysit her three children, according to prosecutors.
Beach has admitted the relationship lasted over the summer and that they even had sex in her classroom with the door locked.
In court, Beach's attorney, John Meienhofer, said she would be best served by treatment, not prison.
"She's not a pedophile," he argued. "She's remorseful and she's gained insight."
Judge Ronald Wilper disagreed. "You cashed in your family, your husband and your children, your reputation," he said. "And you did this for the sake of lust."
Wilper sentenced her to 20 years in prison with possibility of parole in four years.
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