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Angela Comer
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Update: 07/19/07]
The former South Central Kentucky teacher is going
to jail for ten years for being accused of having a sexual
relationship with a 14-year-old and running of to Mexico with the
minor. She appeared in court and pleaded guilty to reduced charges.
After the hearing, Comer spoke to the media for the very first time.
She said she was going to take responsibility for her actions and
apologized for them.
During the hearing, the Commonwealth Attorney for Monroe County said
an agreement was offered because it was in the best interest of the
minor.
Comer was originally charged with two counts of sodomy, four counts of
unlawful transaction with a minor and custodial interference.
Under the plea agreement, the counts of unlawful transaction with a
minor and one count of sodomy were dismissed.
Now the members of both families are hoping this agreement will bring
an end to their difficult ordeal.
"I'm very, very glad it's over. Now I can have closure and go on with
my life," Comer said.
"I'm just glad to get it over. It's been a year and six months and
that's way too long for a family to have to think about it - suffer
over it," said Betty Carter-York, the victim's grandmother.
On the eve of her trial, Comer decided to take a plea agreement.
"Putting the child himself through the agony of the trial - putting my
family and myself through that - I feel it was the best thing and
that's why I changed my mind," Comer said.
The plea agreement reduced her charges to one count of sodomy and one
count of custodial interference.
She'll serve the maximum sentence of five years for each count, that's
a total of ten years to run consecutively.
"I just want to apologize to the community for everything that
occurred and especially to his family for what happened. I'm very,
very sorry," Comer said.
Both the victim's grandmother and Comer say they're not sure if they
agree the sentence is fair, but for very different reasons.
"That was the lowest I would agree to, I did ask for that,"
Carter-York said.
"Not particularly, but I've owned up to what I've done. I'm very
sorry. I've disappointed myself more than anyone else," Comer said.
Now both women, on different sides of the case, say they'll work to
move forward with their lives.
"I wanted it to be over. I need closure to this, so I can move on,"
Comer said.
"I hope no one has to go through this. It's torn our whole family to
the point I don't know if we'll ever recover," Carter-York said.
The final sentencing for Comer is scheduled for June 20, 2007. Comer
said, under the agreement, she'll have to complete a sex offender
treatment program.
The teen involved in this case is currently in the care of social
services.
Ex-teacher nabbed
with missing teenager
Web Posted:
01/12/2006 12:00 AM CST
Guillermo
Contreras
Express-News Staff
Writer
A 26-year-old
former teacher from Kentucky who reportedly fled that state with a
teenage student with whom she had a romantic relationship has been
apprehended in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, authorities said.
On Tuesday night,
Mexican authorities arrested Angela Comer after finding her at a Nuevo
Laredo hotel with the 14-year-old boy and Comer's toddler son.
Mexican officials
turned them over to officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection
at the Laredo International Bridge. Comer was taken to a hospital for
observation and examination and booked Wednesday morning into the Webb
County Jail, said Rene Salinas, spokesman for the FBI in San Antonio.
The 14-year-old
was placed in protective custody by the Laredo Police Department, and
the 4-year-old was taken into custody by Texas Child Protective
Services, the FBI said.
Officers with the
Tompkinsville, Ky., Police Department were to return them to Kentucky,
Tompkinsville Police Chief Dale Ford said. Comer is charged with
custodial interference.
Ford said the
teen lives with his grandmother in Tompkinsville, population 3,000,
and was last seen about 10:30 p.m. Friday when he arrived home and
went to bed. The woman reported the teen missing Saturday morning,
Ford said.
"(The
grandmother) went to get her purse, and she couldn't find it," Ford
said. "She went to his room to see if he knew where it was, and there
were pillows under the sheets. He just took his clothes, slipped out,
and slipped away."
Comer and her
4-year-old son, who had been staying elsewhere, turned up missing
around the same time, Ford said. Comer was scheduled for a hearing
Tuesday in Kentucky on a separate charge of custodial interference
involving the same teen, Ford said.
He added that
Comer also was wanted on a federal warrant for unlawful flight to
avoid prosecution.
The teen was once
Comer's student. Comer, also known as Angela Combs, had been an
eighth-grade teacher at Monroe County Middle School for about 11/2
years. She resigned in early November, said Kevin Cloyd, principal of
the 510-student school.
Ford said
investigators believe that Comer, who was going through a divorce, had
a romantic relationship with the teen.
"It would appear
that way," Ford said. "We're still early in the investigation, but we
have a lot of evidence that was on a computer, chat lines and such
that will be brought out later."
Investigators
also have determined Comer may have stayed at the teen's home without
his grandmother knowing.
"She appears to
have slipped in and out," Ford said.
Once the teen was
linked to Comer, officers issued an alert to area agencies and
requested assistance from the FBI. Agents got leads that she and the
boy were in Nuevo Laredo, and asked Mexican officials to canvas hotels
there for them, leading to their capture.
The FBI in
Kentucky will review the case with federal prosecutors to determine
what, if any, federal charges should be filed against Comer, according
to the FBI.
Observers quickly
noted the similarity of this case to the one involving Mary Kay
Letourneau. A suburban Seattle elementary school teacher and married
mother of four, Letourneau had a sexual relationship with one of her
sixth-grade students in the 1990s, and he fathered two more children
with her.
Letourneau served
71/2 years in prison, after which the couple married last May.
Other similar
cases have been reported around the country.
"There
seems to be an epidemic of that," Ford said. "It's bothering the
community because we entrust our children to these teachers. That's
the biggest kick. If they're not safe at school with a teacher, where
are they safe?"
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