Guilty! Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst, Redlands, California (arrested July 2013)

ABC Local KABC: Former Redlands teacher pleads guilty to teen sex charges (July 31 2013)

Laura Whitehurst, 28, stood shackled in a San Bernardino courtroom and pleaded guilty to six counts of felony sex charges. Under the deal, Whitehurst will receive one year in jail and must register as a sex offender for life. She will also be under probation for five years, and she will have to forfeit her teaching credentials ... Prosecutors say the plea deal does not give her immunity if any future victims come forward.​

 

CBS Local Los Angeles: Redlands Teacher Accused Of Having Student’s Baby Pleads Guilty (July 31 2013)

Laura Whitehurst, 28, who had been charged with 41 felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and oral copulation, took a plea bargain pleading guilty to six counts of unlawful sex with three minors. Four of the counts are for unlawful sex with victim number one, who fathered Whitehurst’s child. The two other counts are for the other victims, now both adults.​

 

L.A. Times: Ex-Redlands teacher who had student's baby pleads guilty to sex crimes (July 31 2013)

A former Redlands high school teacher [Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst] whose child was fathered by a teenage student will spend a year in jail after pleading guilty Wednesday in a San Bernardino County courtroom to half a dozen sex crimes ... In addition to jail, Whitehurst was placed on five years’ probation, must undergo counseling and register for life as a sex offender. She will serve her time in county jail but could be sent to state prison if she violates the terms of her parole, said San Bernardino County district attorney spokesman Christopher Lee.​

 

Redlands Patch: REDLANDS TEACHER SEX: Whitehurst Plea Includes Life as Registered Sex Offender (July 31 2013)

A Redlands teacher who faced 29 years in prison if convicted of 41 sex felonies with three former students, including one she conceived a baby with, pleaded guilty to six of those felonies Wednesday, encompassing all three alleged victims, and she now faces a maximum of 365 days in county jail. Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst, 28, of Redlands, also faces five years on felony probation, she must register as a sex offender for the rest of her life, and she must forfeit her teaching credentials, a prosecutor said ... "The way that those counts worked are the first four counts were for victim number one, count 31 was for victim number two and count 32 was for victim number three," Rodriguez said. "So the plea does encompass all three victims. . . . "​

 

NBC Los Angeles: Former Redlands Teacher Laura Whitehurst Pleads Guilty to Sex Charges (Aug 1 2013)

Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst ... pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful sex with a minor and two counts of oral copulation with a minor. The remaining charges were dismissed during a hearing at San Bernardino Superior Court Wednesday morning. She agreed to one year in jail, five years of probation, lifetime registration as a sex offender and sex offender counseling. She will be formally sentenced Aug. 28.​

NBC News: Ex-Redlands Teacher Pleads in Sex Case (Aug 1 2013)

 

Press Enterprise: REDLANDS: Ex-teacher pleads guilty to having sex with student (July 31 2013)

Former Redlands teacher Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst pleaded guilty Wednesday, July 31, to six felony charges after admitting to having sex with underage students. She will serve a maximum of one year in jail — a sentence the attorney for the teen who fathered Whitehurst’s baby called “a slap in the face of my client.” In agreeing to the plea bargain, Whitehurst, 28, admitted in Superior Court in San Bernardino that she had sex with three boys who attended Citrus Valley High School.​

Huffington Post: Laura Whitehurst, California Teacher, Pleads Guilty To Sex With Teen Who Impregnated Her (Aug 1 2013)

 

San Bernardino Sun: Laura Whitehurst: 7 similar cases and punishments for teachers who had sex with students (Aug 1 2013)

San Gabriel Valley Tribune: Laura Whitehurst: 7 similar cases and punishments for teachers who had sex with students (Aug 1 2013)

 

UPI: Teacher who had student's baby gets one-year sentence (Aug 1 2013)

A lawyer for a teen who fathered a child with a California teacher said the teacher got off easy in her trial for having sex with boys because "she is a woman." Attorney Heather Cullen her client and his family were shocked at the plea agreement under which Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst is to serve one year in jail, and called it a "slap in the face to the victims," the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday ... Cullen said the teen and his family are considering a lawsuit because they want to make sure other students are protected.​

 

L.A. Times: Ex-teacher convicted of student sex charges released from jail early (Jan 8 2014)

Laura Elizabeth Whitehurst, 29, was released Jan.5, according to jail records. In addition to wearing a GPS monitor, Whitehurst is required to register as a sex offender. Whitehurst was sentenced under a plea deal reached with the San Bernardino district attorney's office that resulted in her 41 felony charges reduced to six. She had faced up to 29 years in prison. Whitehurst must remain on probation for five years and undergo counseling. If she violates the terms of probation, she could spend more than six years in prison.​

 

NY Daily News: California teacher who had baby with underage student and had sex with two others released from jail (Jan 8 2014)

A California high school teacher who pleaded guilty to having sex with three underage students — including one who fathered her baby — was freed from jail after serving less than half her sentence. Laura Whitehurst, a former teacher at Citrus Valley High School in Redlands, was cut loose from the clink in in San Bernardino County early Sunday — after serving just four months of her yearlong sentence, records show. The early release left at least one parent outraged.​

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The 29-year-old woman, who faced up to 29 years in prison before cutting a deal with prosecutors in August, was granted an early release because of good behavior. As part of her probation agreement, Whitehurst will wear a GPS monitoring device and register as a sex offender for the rest of her life. She will also be allowed written contact with her child’s father, who was a senior when the two began their sexual relationship. Her parents have legal custody of the child.​