Ex-aide gets 3 years in sex case

The former Citrus High teacher's aide pleaded guilty to having sex with two teenage boys, then asked the judge for mercy. She faces 12 years of sex offender probation.

INVERNESS - Tammy Huggins, a former Citrus High School teacher's aide who acknowledged having sex with two teen boys, will spend three years in prison and then serve 12 years of sex offender probation for the crimes.

In June, Huggins, 36, decided to take a risk and plead guilty without any sort of plea deal. Without any agreement with prosecutors, sentencing was left to the judge's discretion.

On Tuesday afternoon, she asked Circuit Judge Ric Howard for mercy.

"I'd just like to say I'm very sorry for what I've done," Huggins said. Then she stood quietly, waiting for the judge's words.

Huggins had pleaded guilty to charges of sexual offenses with a victim between the ages of 12 and 15 years, and sexual battery on a victim age 16 or 17.

Before he announced his decision, Howard asked those present to think about Huggins' crimes.

"You got a teacher raping a 15-year-old student," he said. He asked those assembled in the courtroom to think of how they would feel if the genders were reversed. What if Huggins were a "slathering male out there rooting after some sophomore?" he asked.

"It's a case that causes a great deal of reflection," he said. Huggins exploited a "position of trust" by taking advantage of the teens, he said.

Howard decided not to sentence Huggins to the maximum punishment because the victims were in some regard willing participants, he said, and because she cooperated with investigators and even volunteered that there had been a second victim. He sentenced her to serve three years for each case, but the sentences will run concurrently.

Huggins was arrested in January after investigators accused her of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy from December 2004 to January 2005. The two had sexual encounters at her home, in her car or in secluded spots. Huggins' 16-year-old daughter also was in the home during one of the encounters.

The teacher's aide also had sex with a 16-year-old boy in April 2004 at a Beverly Hills home.

When the allegations surfaced, she quit her job. She began working for the school district in 2000 and had good job evaluations, according to personnel records.

Huggins' arrest followed the high-profile case of a Hillsborough County teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student.

Debra Lafave, 24, was arrested in June 2004. The former Greco Middle School reading teacher is accused of having sex with the teen in her townhome and at the school. Marion County authorities say she and the boy had sex in her silver SUV while the teen's cousin, 15, drove.

The victims in such cases often suffer a great deal of emotional damage and can be forever scarred by the sexual experiences, Howard said. Research has shown that victims may have difficultly in future sexual relationships with people of their peer group, he said. The idea that Huggins' crime would somehow be different if she were a man is false, he said.

"I think we need to explode some urban myths," he said.

He pointed to the case of Mary Kay Letourneau, a former Washington state teacher who served prison time for having sex with a student. Letourneau later married the student.

"They don't always turn out like some kind of fairy tale like the Mary Kay Letourneau situation," he said.

The victims did not attend the sentencing or submit statements to the court, but assistant state attorney Richard Buxman said one of the boys is "very upset" about the sexual encounters.

Huggins' mother, father and ex-husband spoke briefly on her behalf. After Huggins heard the sentence, she looked back at her mother, who was crying softly.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 860-7312 or vansickle@sptimes.com

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