k1084 BC-NE-Teacher-StudentFl 2ndLd-Writethru 07-02 0586

Neb. teacher who fled with student pleads guilty

Eds: ADDS additional details of Wednesday hearing. ADDS background on crime. ADDS reaction from boy's lawyer. ADDS information about boy's immigration status.

By ANNA JO BRATTON

Associated Press Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- A former teacher pleaded guilty Wednesday to fleeing to Mexico with a 13-year-old student so she could have sex with him as part of a deal to ensure she'll spend less than a decade in federal prison.

Kelsey Peterson, 26, cried in court and shook her head when the prosecutor said she started having sex with the boy when he was 12 years old and a student at the middle school in Lexington where she taught.

But she pleaded guilty to a charge of transporting a minor across state lines to have sex, and avoided a similar charge that would have carried a mandatory 10-year sentence.

Peterson and the boy left Lexington in October and were found a week later in Mexicali, Mexico. Peterson admitted the two of them had sex.

Her family burst out of the court room shouting at reporters, telling them to "ask (the victim) how old he is," and saying Peterson is being unjustly accused.

Peterson's attorney, James Martin Davis, has publicly questioned the boy's birth certificate. Davis said the boy was likely at least 16, and that he was the aggressor.

Amy Peck, attorney for the boy and his family, said that suggestion was disgusting.

"He was a 12-year-old boy and the defendant knew it," Peck said Wednesday. "The result of this lower plea could have been obtained without playing to every racial stereotype that there is."

The plea agreement calls for a sentence of at least 70 months in prison, up to a maximum of 87 months. The judge could decide on a different sentence at a hearing in September, but that would give Peterson the right to change her plea, said federal prosecutor Jan Sharp.

The guilty plea doesn't mean Peterson is off the hook on state charges, which include kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault.

Davis said he hoped those charges will be dropped.

But Dawson County Attorney Elizabeth Waterman said Wednesday there are no plans to drop the state charges.

"Right now she's charged with what she's charged with," Waterman said. "The nature of any type of deal, I don't want to speculate on that."

Peterson likely won't be brought back to Dawson County to face state charges until after the federal sentencing, Waterman said.

The Associated Press previously named the boy as police were searching for him but stopped using his name after authorities charged Peterson with a sex crime. The boy is now 14.

He was an illegal immigrant in the United States when he left with Peterson. He's now back in Nebraska temporarily after being granted humanitarian parole by the Department of Homeland Security.

Peck said she plans to ask the U.S. attorney's office for a visa that could put the boy and his parents on the path to citizenship.

The "U" visa is designed for victims of certain crimes and their families and needs the backing of someone involved with prosecuting, investigating or judging the case.

"We have not been promised anything at this point," Peck said.

Said U.S. Attorney Joe Stecher: "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
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