A former Nova Scotia elementary school teacher who sexually abused two of her former students has been sentenced to 15 months under house arrest.
Amy Hood, 40, of Stellarton, N.S. was convicted in April of sexual interference, sexual exploitation and two counts of luring minors over the Internet for a sexual purpose.
The charges stem from offences involving two boys in 2013, while Hood was a Grade 6 teacher at Thorburn Consolidated School in Thorburn, N.S.
Court heard that Hood had sent sexual text messages to a 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy and that she had performed a sexual act on the younger teen.
Both teens had been her students at one point.
Court also heard that a psychiatrist diagnosed Hood with bipolar disorder in 2013 and the defence argued that the condition clouded her judgement at the time of the offences.
The Crown had been seeking a four-year prison term while the defence had recommended a conditional sentence.
The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in jail, but Judge Del Atwood said Wednesday in Pictou provincial court that such a sentence would be “grossly disproportionate” in Hood’s case.
Crown attorney Bill Gorman was disappointed with the verdict.
“What I expected is that there was a distinct possibility for a federal sentence,” said Gorman. “The floor of a federal sentence is two years plus a day, so I felt that a federal sentence of incarceration was a realistic recommendation to the court.”
Atwood said Hood’s bipolar disorder was a factor at the time of the incidents.
With house arrest, Hood will be under electronic supervision. Atwood also sentenced the 40-year-old to a 10-year ban on attending areas where young people are gathered, unless she is in the presence of an adult. She must stay at least two kilometres away from her victims.
Atwood says Hood will continue to have access to her own children.
Hood must also abstain from alcohol and drugs, other than medical prescriptions.
Hood’s name will be placed on the sex offender registry for life and she must serve two years of probation after serving her sentence.
Hood left the Pictou courthouse without comment.
“She's relieved that, of course, she's not going to jail and she'll be home for Christmas with her kids,” said defence lawyer Joel Pink. “So that's a weight off her shoulders.”
The crown has 30 days to decide if it wishes to appeal the sentence, but Gorman says he'll wait until he receives the written ruling before making that decision.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh.
