Massachusetts- A 16-year-old who videotaped himself having sex with his 31-year-old teacher and looked at photos of her naked is not a victim, the married mother of two says. Amber S. Jennings, 32, who admitted this week that she e-mailed photos of herself naked to her former student, also criticized the boy’s mother who reportedly said she wants to cash in on the incident with a civil suit. “It is just unfortunate that she would go so far as to ruin her son’s life in order to profit,” Jennings told the Worcester Telegram and Gazette this week.
Jennings pleaded guilty this week to disseminating harmful materials to a minor and was sentenced to two years probation. Jennings told the paper she’s writing a book about the case. Jennings met the boy while teaching English at Shepherd Hill Regional High School in Dudley. Authorities say they started out as friends but things heated up in late 2003 when the boy was 16. The two started having sex, videotaping their romps and e-mailing naked photos and messages to each other, according to court documents. The boy told authorities the sex was consensual. “It was just an idea I had to tape it,” the boy told authorities, according to court documents. Jennings admitted this week that she e-mailed naked photos of herself to the boy. The affair lasted until July 2004, when the victim’s mom asked him about an online chat with Jennings. Jennings, who has two young girls, lives in a secluded lakefront home in Sturbridge. She declined comment last night. Jennings underwent a psychiatric evaluation in January and it was determined her risk for future sexual violence is “very low, if not nil.” During the same evaluation, she told the doctor her marriage to Russell Jennings, her high school sweetheart, was “somewhat strained as of late.” Under the new agreement, Jennings pledged to stay away from the victim and surrender her license to teach public school in Massachusetts. She must undergo evaluations and treatment as a sex offender.
She is not required to register as a sex offender.