Ex-teacher begins jail term after pleading guilty to sex with student

A former Las Vegas teacher who pleaded guilty to sexual conduct with a student has started serving a 30-day stint in the Clark County Detention Center as part of a plea agreement, according to jail and court records.

Lawrence Artl, 38, was arrested in May. The former biology teacher at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts was accused of having inappropriate relationships with two students, Clark County School District police said in an affidavit filed at the time.

District Court records show Artl pleaded guilty in November to a single felony count of sexual conduct with a pupil as part of a plea deal. On Wednesday he was sentenced to up to five years in prison but placed on probation with a requirement that he spend 30 days in jail. Under the provisions of the deal, if Artl were to violate probation, the prison sentence would be imposed.

When Artl was arrested, police said email records corroborated accusations of inappropriate conduct with students. School district police said they started investigating Artl on Feb. 3 after they received an anonymous tip alleging that Artl had sex with at least one student. The tipster provided audio recordings overheard between two students.

In one of the recordings, a student can be heard talking about her relationship with Artl, police said. She said Artl went to her house twice in November 2019. The first time, Artl stayed for a short time before leaving. The second time, they had sex, the student said, adding that they also kissed in his car more than once, according to police.

Artl told police he knew it was wrong for him to go to the student’s house, and that his wife didn’t know that he went.

“Each time it was very weird and uncomfortable and I knew I wasn’t supposed to be there and I’m not really sure what exactly came over me to cause me to do something like that,” Artl told police.

School police records showed Artl faced similar allegations two previous times, but “both incidents involved either an uncooperative victim or an uncooperative reporting person,” police said.

Artl’s defense attorney, Michael Becker, could not immediately be reached for comment Monday. Becker wrote in a sentencing memorandum, though, that Artl has taken responsibility for his actions and “has no prior criminal history outside of the instant case.”

He has also been deemed a low risk to re-offend, Becker said, and has extensive family support.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.