Pamela Rogers sent to prison for rest of sentence
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?What I did was wrong,? Rogers confessed as she addressed the camera-filled courtroom, tears streaming from her eyes as her voice trembled. ?I?m so sorry. I was blinded by emotions I wish I had never had. I don?t know what I was thinking or if I even was thinking.
?I betrayed my profession and the family of the victim,? Rogers continued. ?It wasn?t only my career, it was my life. I?ve lost my freedom, my dreams, my dignity and now I feel I may have even lost myself. I plead for your mercy on my judgment.?
Rogers, a former gym teacher at Centertown School, was referring to her sexual affair with a 13-year-old student last year which ended in her serving 198 days in jail for statutory rape and sexual battery by an authority figure. Her probation was violated twice a short time after she was released when she was caught maintaining a Web site and contacting the victim and his teen-age sister, both of which were forbidden in the conditions of her probation.
The defense didn?t contest any of the allegations against Rogers.
Rogers also sent pornographic images to the young victim, something which has brought additional charges of sexual exploitation.
?All I want is for her to leave my daughter and son alone and never contact them again,? said the victim?s father who testified at Friday?s hearing.
His statement came before the defense?s mental expert, Joan Schleicher, testified Rogers was a ?sex addict? who she believed could be helped by treatment. Schleicher said she had interviewed Rogers at Warren County Jail on three occasions, noting Rogers had kept detailed journals about her life.
The mental health expert noted Rogers had talked to her about several relationships which included dabbling in lesbianism and even sexual incidents in a locker room at Tennessee Tech. However, Schleicher maintained Rogers is not a pedophile but instead was driven by her sexual hunger.
Schleicher said Rogers would be better served by enrolling in an intensive sex treatment program instead of being sent to prison. However, upon cross examination by district attorney Dale Potter, Schleicher unraveled on the stand.
Potter questioned Schleicher, a former women?s prison chaplain, about her qualifications to conclude that Rogers is a sex addict and her recommendation of treatment at a non-secure facility. Potter said there is no indication such treatment would stop Rogers from repeating her crime.
?What?s the success rate of this program?? Potter asked.
?I did not ask and that is a very good question,? Schleicher said.
Potter asked how an expert could recommend a program in which she didn?t know the success rate. He also asked to see the journals the mental health expert examined and was told they were ?in the car.?
Potter dismissed Schleicher?s analysis and said the best place for treatment for sex addiction may be prison, where Rogers could not simply leave when she wanted.
?You can?t tell this court she won?t get out and go back after another maybe 11 or 12-year-old, can you?? Potter asked.
Schleicher said her evaluation suggested Rogers would not.
In handing down her sentence, Judge Stanley was candid about his feelings on the matter, noting Rogers was, in essence, given a second chance but failed to seize the opportunity.
?You willfully and deliberately violated your probation,? Stanley said. ?When I heard the allegations I was stunned as to how you could walk out of this courtroom and, within 48 hours, do this. You have done everything except show this court you wanted to rehabilitate yourself.?
Stanley said it made no difference as to Rogers? gender or looks, noting the ending would be the same for a man or woman.
?This court pays no mind to gender,? Stanley said. ?I hope this sends a message to the citizens of Tennessee that this behavior will not be tolerated.?
With that, Stanley sentenced her to the balance of the seven years remaining on her sentence. She will be transported to the state penitentiary where it will be up to a parole board to determine her release after she serves around 30 percent of her sentence.
She will face the sexual exploitation charges Nov. 22. However, instead of 30 percent, Rogers will be looking at serving 35 percent of the new charges, both of which carry one to two years, since prosecutors are now calling her a ?repeat offender? given her status as a convicted felon.