Ex-Foothill High School teacher gets probation for kissing student

Amanda Brennan pleaded guilty in October to one felony count of luring children with the intent to engage in sexual conduct.

Brennan, who was an English teacher at Henderson’s Foothill High School, said she was “sorry for the incident” at a brief sentencing hearing.

Her lawyer, Bill Terry, said she was a good candidate for probation as she was found to be a low risk to re-offend after a psychological evaluation. He added this was the first time Brennan had been in trouble.

Prosecutors did not ask for prison time.

As part of her sentence, Brennan must register as a sex offender.

The boy’s mother discovered the relationship in May when he said he was going to the movies with some friends she didn’t know, according to court documents. The mother soon discovered Brennan was coming to see her son.

A School District police investigation revealed that Brennan and the boy had exchanged 1,000 text messages over a nine-day period.

The student told police he and Brennan loved each other and had only kissed twice. The teacher said the same, admitting that she knew the relationship was wrong but loved him.

Brennan’s sentencing comes on the heels of another budding teacher-student romance that was foiled by parents and school police.

Tanikka “Bella” Queen, a long-term substitute at Hyde Park Middle School near Valley View and Charleston boulevards, was arrested last week after authorities discovered she was having an affair with a 15-year-old male student.

On Monday, prosecutors added dozens of new charges against Queen, bringing the total to 40. She faces multiple counts of first-degree kidnapping, statutory sexual seduction and luring a child to engage in a sex act, and one count of sexual assault against a child under 16.

The affair was uncovered when the parent of a female student, with whom Queen had a friendship, found text messages on the girl’s phone referring to the affair, according to court papers.

The boy’s father also became suspicious when his son came home with a hickey.

Queen, who taught geography, initially denied having an affair with her student, according to police reports. In one interview with detectives, Queen described the boy as a troubled eighth-grader who was repeating the grade for the third time.

But school district police recovered from a cellphone about 2,400 text messages, 108 phone calls and 38 photographs sent between Queen and the boy that showed a burgeoning love affair that began around Valentine’s Day.

“Remember no matter how I act at school I still love you with all my heart,” Queen wrote in one text, according to police.

Queen eventually admitted to spending too much time with the boy and kissing him. In one interview, she told detectives she had sex with the boy while she was house sitting for a friend, according to a report.

She remained held at the Clark County Detention Center on $100,000 bail.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@review journal.com or 702-380-1039.