Teacher Admits Having Sex With Her Young Student

A former City Heights fifth-grade teacher accused of having sex with students has admitted she did it.

Adrienne Feistel, 36, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of statutory rape for having sex with a former student. She was facing a retrial on charges she molested two boys.

Her first trial ended in a mistrial in December because of juror misconduct.

During that trial, Fiestel had faced 10 felony counts of lewd acts on a child. Prosecutors alleged she not only had a sexual relationship with one of her alleged victims, a former student, but she also admitted to others that she had a "crush" on him and was upset when she discovered a girl was posting messages on his MySpace page.

The defense contended that the victim's mother, Maria Garcia, was motivated by a desire to protect herself from trouble with the police and to regain the control and love of her teenage daughter Brenda after Maria saw that Brenda was seeking guidance from Feistel.

The defense told jurors that Maria Garcia never called the police to report her son was sexually abused but, rather, made the accusations the day that officers were called to the Garcia home to question Maria Garcia about hitting Brenda.

Feistel was on a leave of absence from when the relationship started in 2006 and resigned a short time later. Feistel taught at Rosa Parks Elementary School, where the victims were students.

She faces three years in prison when she's sentenced.

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