Content warning: This article describes child sexual abuse. Please take care while reading.
Southern California elementary school teacher Jacqueline Ma, who had previously been named “Teacher of the Year” in her school district, pleaded guilty on Wed. Feb. 5 to sexual misconduct involving minors.
According to prosecutors, Ma, 35, exchanged lewd and suggestive messages, videos, and photos with the boys, and her inappropriate sexual relationship with one of them lasted for a year, according to Fox 5 San Diego. As well as explicit messaging, Ma is also accused of engaging in sexual contact with the minors, who were 11 and 12 years old at that time, in one case, after hours at the school.
As evidence, authorities reportedly have Ma’s text messages, photos, and videos she shared with the boys and that they shared with her, some of which she reportedly kept in a secret folder on her phone, including one message in which she said she “loved” one of the victims.
According to a detective who worked on the case, Ma told one boy in a message, “Sometimes I think you don’t understand that I am a kid still, and this is my only real relationship,” according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. San Diego Deputy District Attorney Drew Hart called Ma in court, “Obsessive, possessive, controlling, and dangerous.”
One boy’s mom discovered the relationship
Reportedly, the mother of one of the boys discovered the abuse, and Ma’s abuse with the other child, who was her student at the time, was uncovered during the investigation. Both boys were students at Lincoln Acres Elementary School when the abuse happened. According to Deputy District Attorney Hart, when Ma was arrested, “she had a photograph of the victim in her wallet, she had jewelry with his initials, and love letters were discovered in her classroom directed at the child.”
At first, Ma pleaded not guilty to all charges, according to San Diego’s CBS 8, but before her trial began, she changed her plea to guilty in an emotional court appearance on select charges as part of a deal that will see other charges dropped. Ma could spend anywhere from 30 years to life behind bars with the chance for parole. Her sentencing is expected in May.
After Ma changed her plea, Deputy DA Hart said, “Obviously she’s taken responsibility and not gone to trial. The consequences of trial would have been more significant. With this resolution, we’re sparing the victims from having to come in and testify in front of a jury,” according to Fox 5 San Diego.
Ma’s attorney said his client “accepted responsibility early on in this process” and “has done nothing but express genuine remorse from the beginning of this.”
Ma was arrested in 2023, and shortly before her arrest, the San Diego County Office of Education honored Ma as “Teacher of the Year” at Lincoln Acres Elementary School in National City in San Diego County, where she taught fifth and sixth grade.
According to Seattle’s KOMO News, Lincoln Acres Principal Kathy Melanese said at the time, “The creativity, initiative, collaboration, and 100% dedication Ms. Ma has for her students and the school is immeasurable. When students leave Ms. Ma’s room, they are more confident students, more engaged citizens, and more thoughtful adolescents who know they are loved.”
If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
Published: Feb 10, 2025 03:33 pm