Teacher gets probation for sex with student

TAMPA -- A judge sentenced a former Middleton High School special-education teacher to five years of sex offender probation today for having sex with a student.

Christina Butler, 34, pleaded guilty in October to her charges, which include contributing to the delinquency of a minor and two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

She faced more than 30 years in prison. State sentencing guidelines called for at least 11 years behind bars.

During police questioning last year, she admitted to having sex with the student up to a dozen times. The boy, then 16, had borderline mental retardation.

After hearing three hours of testimony about Butler's psychiatric history, the judge called this a "unique case" and said the boy was probably the more mature and less vulnerable of the two. He said it was his opinion that the boy possibly initiated the sexual encounters.

"I don't think there's any chance in the world that you're going to reoffend," Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Rogers Padgett told Butler.

Butler will be a registered sex offender.

"You'll have to live with that," Padgett said.

Butler's sentence was left up to Padgett because prosecutors offered no plea negotiations. Assistant State Attorney Anthony Duran called for prison time and objected when the judge decided on a downward departure sentence.

Duran said prosecutors will appeal.

"I don't know where he got that," Duran said of the judge's remarks. "I don't know how a 16-year-old boy is ever more mature than a 33-year-old teacher."

Colleen Jenkins, Times Staff Writer

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