Kelsey Peterson Sentenced

Meet Kelsey Peterson, the former school teacher arrested for traveling across state lines with the intention of having sex with someone under 18.Kelsey Peterson was sentenced today to six years in prison followed by five years’ supervised release. She had pleaded guilty earlier this summer to federal charges of traveling to Mexico with a 13-year-old boy to have sex. Peterson said,

“I want to take responsibility for what I did. I am not a sexual predator. That’s not who I am.”Kelsey Peterson is 26 years old. She attended college at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. While in high school, she was on the volleyball and basketball teams and a member of the National Honor Society. It was reported that she had a child while in high school who does not live with her.

Peterson was teaching junior high in Lexington, Nebraska when she began a sexual relationship with one of her students who was 12 at the time. Last October, Peterson packed her 2006 Pontiac, withdrew $2,500 in cash, and left for Mexico with a 13-year-old student. A week after embarking on their roadtrip, the duo was caught by police after the boy called home. Although previously named by the press, his name has since stopped being used since he is now the alleged victim of a sex crime.Peterson pleaded guilty several months ago to federal charges of crossing state lines with a person under 18 to have sex. But her sentencing today isn’t the end of the story for this former school teacher. She still faces state charges of kidnapping and first degree sexual assault.