Teacher sentenced to jail for sex with student

HOUSTON, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- A Texas teacher is to serve one year in jail and a year of probation after pleading guilty to having sex with an eighth-grade student who did not speak English.

Kathryn Murray, 27, was an English-as-a-second-language teacher at Memorial Middle School in Houston where she was tutoring the victim, 15, a Costa Rican native who had been adopted by American parents, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Prosecutors said the two first had sex in Murray's classroom, then later at a hotel and the family's home while his parents were away. The victim's parents were alerted to the situation after a younger brother walked in on the two in bed at their home.

After her arrest Murray was free on $50,000 bail when the victim ran away from home and was found at Murray's residence. A judge revoked her bail after the incident.

The teen's parents said the sentence was too lenient.

"If this had been a 27-year-old man and a 15- year-old girl, the judgment in there would have been completely different," the teen's father said after Tuesday's hearing. "It goes to show you the double standard."

In addition to the jail sentence Murray will have to register as a sex offender and is barred from contacting the victim.