Texas teacher gets probation and fine after sex with student

Texas teacher pleads guilty to sex with student, gets probation and fine 

Nikki Scherwitz was given 10 years of probation and a $5,000 fine after having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old Brazosport High School student. The 26-year-old Houston teacher’s sentence has upset some students and parents, who believe Scherwitz should have gone to jail.

BY Carol Kuruvilla

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, February 22, 2014, 12:32 PM  

Freeport Police Department

Nikki Scherwitz is a former 10th grade English teacher at Brazosport High School in Freeport, Texas.

  A Texas teacher who had sex with a student has evaded the slammer after apologizing to her victim.

Nikki Scherwitz, who pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old Brazosport High School student, was sentenced to 10 years of probation and a $5,000 fine.

Prosecutors reportedly agreed to the plea deal because the student was nearly 17, the age of consent in Texas. Scherwitz, 26, also agreed to send written apologies to the victim’s mom and to the Brazosport Independent School District in Houston.

“I apologize for the behavior I engaged in with a student of BISD,” Scherwitz scribbled onto a piece of paper. “I crossed an ethical boundary I never should have crossed. Again, I’m sorry.”

But some parents and students are upset that Scherwitz managed to avoid a jail sentence.

"The men get 25 to life, but a woman gets a slap on the wrist with only a $5,000 fine," Mario Salinas, a student at Brazosport High School, told KHOU.

"If it was a guy, a male teacher with a female student, it wouldn’t be the same," agreed Oscar Guttierrez, another student.

In fact, Texas law forbids improper relationships between teachers and students—no matter the age.

Police were alerted to Scherwitz’s inappropriate behavior after the teacher allegedly showed up drunk to an after-prom party, wearing a tattered, cut-off shirt. For several weeks before that, she had been sending explicit text messages to her victim, KTRK reports. When others at the party asked her to leave, she left the house with her victim in tow.

Scherwtiz had separated from her husband before developing a relationship with the minor. Her son is now staying his dad.

With the police hot on her trail, the woman resigned from her job as a 10th grade English teacher last year.

Scherwitz is now considered a convicted felon. She has to abide by a curfew and has been ordered to stay far away from minors.

"I think she should get more than just probation because that’s a kid," said Robert Anderson whose grandchild is a Brazosport student, adding, "and you shouldn’t have relationships with a young minor."