Substitute teacher sentenced to prison for sex assault of student
GRAND HAVEN — In a Grand Haven courtroom Monday, former West Ottawa Public Schools' substitute teacher Jill Edstrom was sentenced to 18 months in a Michigan prison for the sexual assault of a high school student.
Edstrom, 51, of Park Township, sexually assaulted a 16-year-old student last year while working as a long-term substitute teacher, primarily for special education students, at West Ottawa High School.
At a sentencing hearing Monday, Judge Jon Hulsing ordered Edstrom to serve at least 18 months and up to 15 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections. Edstrom will also have to register as a sex offender upon her release from prison.
Ottawa County Sheriff's Office detectives' investigation found Edstrom and the student had a close relationship for months, Edstrom often giving the student rides home from school.
At Edstrom's home in Park Township, Edstrom had “gotten drunk one night and had come on to him and started having sex with him and he didn’t know what to do," the student said, according to the police report. The Sentinel does not identify victims of sexual assault.
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Edstrom was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony carrying a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. She pleaded no contest to the charges at a hearing last month.
Typically, third-degree criminal sexual conduct involves victims under the age of 16, as 16 is the age of consent in Michigan.
However, the age of consent is raised to 18 in school settings if the victim is a student and the perpetrator is in an authority role at the school, such as a teacher, substitute teacher or administrator.
Edstrom said nothing before the sentence was handed down, but her attorney, John Moritz, asked for a sentence on the "low end" of the sentencing guidelines. The sentencing guidelines in Edstrom's case had recommended a sentence between 15 and 25 months.
"My client has devoted her life, up to this point, to education," Moritz said. "She has done good things with her life."
Edstrom was employed at West Ottawa Public Schools through a Grand Rapids-based substitute teacher staffing company, EduStaff, and was also employed directly by WOPS for a summer school teaching position.
— Contact reporter Carolyn Muyskens at cmuyskens@hollandsentinel.com and follow her on Twitter at @cjmuyskens.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Substitute teacher sentenced to prison for sex assault of student
