A woman who was formerly recognized as the county teacher of the year at an elementary school in Southern California has been sentenced to anywhere from thirty years to life in prison for the sexual assault and grooming of two young boys who were present on campus.
During the month of February, Jacqueline Ma, who was employed as a teacher at Lincoln Acres Elementary School in National City, which is located close to San Diego, entered a guilty plea to three charges: two counts of coercive lewd acts on a child, one count of a lewd act on a child, and one count of possessing material that was related to child sexual abuse.
In March of 2023, she was taken into custody after the mother of one of the victims revealed that she discovered inappropriate texts between her son and Ma on a tablet that belonged to other family members.
According to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, the investigation revealed that Ma had been grooming the kid for more than a year prior to the time when she sexually molested him when he was 12 years old.
In addition, the investigators found evidence that she had sexually assaulted and groomed a youngster who was 11 years old in the year 2020.
“This defendant violated the trust she had with her students in the most extreme and traumatic way possible and her actions are despicable,” District Attorney Summer Stephan stated. “Her victims will have to deal with a lifetime of negative effects and her 30-year sentence is appropriate.”
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As stated in her description for teacher of the year, Ma had been working as a teacher in the district since 2013. She had earned a bachelor’s degree in biology as well as a master’s degree in teaching from the University of California, San Diego.
During the 2022-23 school year, the San Diego County Office of Education presented the award to the recipient.
