A teacher who sexually assaulted a vulnerable 16-year-old boy and demanded him to bring a gun to school to shoot one of her colleagues has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Imagine Kay Ewer, 28, took advantage of the teenager, who has special educational needs, at the school in Lakewood, Colorado, and had “frequent sexual encounters” with him over several weeks.
A court heard Ewer abused her position of trust when she exploited her victim for money and convinced him he was “the one”. She sent him “thousands upon thousands upon thousands” of text messages asking him to bring a gun to their secret meetings and to school to shoot another staff member in the leg.
The relationship, which only lasted from September to November 2023, was discovered after another teacher raised concerns after finding “inappropriate writing” on one of his worksheets. Police investigating found evidence drugs and alcohol were also involved.
Ewer was sentenced in January 2025 after admitting sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in the first degree. Three other criminal charges and one minor offence were dismissed in exchange for her guilty plea, reports the Mirror.
During the sentencing hearing, the victim’s mother told the court: “The defendant preyed on my son, leading him to believe she genuinely cared for him, all while exploiting him for money and manipulating him into thinking he was ‘the one’.
“What makes this even more painful is that I trusted the defendant. Had I known what was truly happening, I would never have allowed her such close access to him.”
Ewer will now remain on the Sex Offenders Register for between ten years and life, which will be decided by probation when she is released from prison in 2029, reports US magazine PEOPLE.
Police noticed her “favouritism” towards the teenager almost immediately when investigations began in late 2023. According to a police statement, detectives discovered “evidence of frequent sexual encounters, constant digital communication, inclusive of repeated derogatory remarks directed at the victim, and the introduction of drugs, alcohol, and weapons”.
Speaking at the sentencing hearing, Ewer, who had worked in education for eight years before she was arrested, said: “I just want to apologise to the victim and the victim’s family. I’m really sorry; this will never happen again.”