Former 'Rookie Teacher of the Year' Admits Sexually Abusing Boy, 14, After Sister Discovered Texts About Sex

Brittiny Lopez-Murray pleaded guilty this week to charges related to her 2021 arrest for sexually abusing her former student

A former middle school drama teacher who was once named the “Rookie Teacher of the Year” at her school has pleaded guilty to six charges in a Florida courtroom Wednesday, more than two years after she was arrested for sexually abusing one of her 14-year-old students.

NBC Miami reports that Brittiny Lopez-Murray, now 33, pleaded guilty to all six criminal charges brought against her, including lewd and lascivious battery, lewd and lascivious molestation of a child and electronic transmission harmful to minors.

Lopez-Murray was sentenced to house arrest and will be required to enter a rehabilitation program for mental disorder sex offenders, according to the outlet. She was also sentenced to two years of community control, according to NBC Miami.

The former Hialeah Middle School drama teacher, who was honored in 2017 with the school’s “Rookie Teacher of the Year” distinction, was arrested in October 2021 after the boy’s family became aware of explicit text messages on his phone.

One of the concerning discoveries included a "long text message, where she expressed her feelings towards him and how she felt about him,” according to an arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE at the time.

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Lopez-Murray began abusing the teen, who had previously been one of her seventh and eighth grade students, shortly after that text was sent, the affidavit had said.

The teacher and her former student then met up at a local Starbucks for breakfast and she later sexually abused him in her white Jeep, including after she picked him up from basketball practice and from his home, the affidavit had said.

The two exchanged texts about "how much they enjoyed the sex with each other," the 2021 affidavit said.

The boy’s sister then became suspicious about how much time he was spending on his phone and how he was protecting it from others so they couldn’t see what he was doing. The sister was able to get the phone and found "explicit text messages and photos" sent between the boy and his then-teacher. The sister then alerted their father about the texts.

"The defendant also groomed, enticed, encouraged the victim to send child pornography images by writing things such as, 'perfect, and yum,'" the affidavit had said.

Wednesday’s plea deal was approved by the victim’s family, NBC Miami reported.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

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