Machias -
A substitute teacher accused of molesting an eighth grader is going to jail for a year.
47-year-old Dianne Leach of Steuben pleaded no contest to two counts of gross sexual assault in February.
She was sentenced on Friday in Machias Superior Court.
Leach was a substitute teacher at the Ella Lewis School in Steuben when she had a four-month long sexual relationship with a student that began in December 2010.
In an effort to protect the victim, the prosecution agreed to a plea deal for six months behind bars, but the judge decided on a longer sentence, calling the teacher-student relationship a "game changer."
"Trying to sort of save him that embarrassment and save him that stress I offered something that I knew was a little bit light, a little bit less than if we had gone to battle over it. The judge thought it was too light that's his responsibility," said First Assistant District Attorney Paul Cavanaugh.
Before sentencing, Leach said, "I'd just like to add that I'm very sorry. I apologized to the family from the beginning, I've apologized to my family and I have huge, huge regrets and it's going to be a life lesson for me and just moving forward."
Leach will spend the rest of her life as a registered sex offender.
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