California ‘teacher of the year’ gets 30 years in prison for sexual abuse of elementary school children

Jacqueline Ma, 36, pleaded guilty in February to “two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child, one count of lewd acts on a child and one count of possessing child sexual abuse material,” the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said, according to Fox News.

"This defendant violated the trust she had with her students in the most extreme and traumatic way possible and her actions are despicable," said District Attorney Summer Stephan. "Her victims will have to deal with a lifetime of negative effects and her 30-year sentence is appropriate." Ma was a former San Diego County “Teacher of the Year.”

Ma provided a statement to the public before being given her sentence, wherein she said she “abused my authority," adding, "I exerted my power and control over them, and I deceived them.”

"Boys this age should be playing outside, feeling carefree … I ripped away their childhood."

"I lied to their faces while secretly abusing their sons," Ma said. "I just pray for extra protection and strength for all those (affected)."

Ma gave the boys "gifts, food and special attention and even completed their homework for them," in behaviour that was called grooming by the district attorney’s office. She was arrested in 2023 after the parents of a 12-year-old boy found inappropriate messages on a family tablet.

The boy, who was not allowed to have social media or his own electronics, was communicating with Ma through an unsanctioned after-school program and through a school chat app. Ma groomed the child for over a year.

It was also discovered that Ma targeted and sexually assaulted an 11-year-old boy in 2020.

"No child deserves what this defendant did and I hope this sentence brings a measure of justice to the victims, their families and the community that was left reeling from this defendant’s crimes," Stephan said.

Ma must serve the full 30 years before she is eligible for parole, the Union-Tribune reported.