A married teacher was caught in a sexual relationship with her 17-year-old student after a DNA test revealed he was the biological father of her child.
Shawnee Nicole Despain, 26, pleaded guilty to a charge of an improper relationship between educator and student but managed to dodge a potential 20-year long sentence after forfeiting her teaching license. She resigned from her role in September 2023 when an investigation revealed she had been in a sexual relationship with the 17-year-old who attended Rockdale High School in Texas, where she taught agricultural science.
It was during this time that Despain was also found to be pregnant, and a DNA test revealed that her husband was not the father. Officers found she had groomed the teenager through a series of text messages professing her love, and footage of the pair having sex found on Despain’s snapchat.
The investigation also found the student and Despain were alone at her home while her husband was away. After wading through school CCTV footage, officers also found the pair were alone in Despain’s classroom on at least four occasions, including for around three hours on Labour Day 2023, when the school was closed, and for roughly 90 minutes on Sunday, September 17, 2023.
Despain was first charged with child pornography and enacting an improper relationship on November 7, 2023. During a sentencing hearing this week, District Judge John W. Youngblood placed her on a 10-year probation, meaning she will not face any prison time.
The 26-year-old forfeited her teaching license for the offence for which she pleaded guilty, which does not require her to be registered as a sex offender. During the hearing, Milam County District Attorney Brian Price argued that the accused deserved prison time, adding if the case had involved a male teacher and female student, the outcome may have been different.
Price said: “My argument to the judge was she was in a position of power and trust over her students and she used that to abuse this young man, and that is going to affect him his entire life. People put in a position of authority and trust should be held to a higher standard, not a lower one.”
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