Photo: Amanda Ruth Schweitzer (photo courtesy Joplin Globe)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A former Joplin middle school teacher was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for charges related to enticing one of her students to engage in illicit sex.
Amanda Ruth Schweitzer, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Schweitzer to 15 years of supervised release following incarceration.
On June 16, 2020, Schweitzer pleaded guilty to enticing a minor for illegal sexual activity. Schweitzer was a teacher at North Middle School in Joplin at the time of the offense.
The 13-year-old victim, who was a student of Schweitzer’s, reported Schweitzer sent nude photos of herself to the victim, with whom she primarily communicated via Instagram, and engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim on at least two occasions in March 2017. The victim reported that he also sent a nude image of himself to Schweitzer.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Joplin Police Department, and the FBI.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
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