Pleaded guilty, but it's all his fault.
He was 16 years-old and a special ed student.
Apr 4, 2007 - Jean Panzo-Montalbano, 53, a teacher's assistant in a special education program at Downey High School, was arrested on suspicion of having unlawf
ul sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old boy.
The boy reported the crimes to Downey police. Panzo-Montalbano posted $20,000 bond.
Arraignment is scheduled for Apr 24.
May 3 - Panzo-Montalbano pleaded not guilty. She is due back in court June 5.
August 29, 2007 - Panzo-Montalbano was sentenced to three years probation, plus 45 days of house arrest and 800 hours of community service.
Just hours after she was sentenced to house arrest and community service for having unlawful sex with a special-education student, a former teacher's aide said her actions had been misconstrued and that she had been "railroaded" into accepting a plea bargain.Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, said her office "does not approve of re-victimizing victims."
But Jean Panzo-Montalbano, 54, also acknowledged that she had engaged in repeated sex with the 16-year-old student and became an unhealthy distraction for him at a time when he was struggling in school.
"I'm guilty in a way that, as an adult, I should have not let this kid get into my head," she told the Press-Telegram. "It's like a little kid. If you don't keep them occupied, they'll find a toy instead."
Then she added: "I was that toy for that kid."
"The defendant pleaded guilty in this case," Gibbons said. "That's self-explanatory. She can rationalize it any way she wants."
