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Schmitz found guilty
Charlene Schmitz, 55, who was arrested in June of last year, could face a sentence of 12-15 years in the case, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years to life. Instant message logs recovered from the boy's computer were used to convict the former teacher. According to reports from other media outlets, Schmitz's daughter, Tanya Thomas, testified that she had pretended to be her mother while using her mother's Yahoo account to talk to the boy. She said she met the alleged victim on the MySpace Web site and began dating him shortly afterward. The girl told prosecutors she did not immediately tell her parents about her correspondence with the boy and never reported them to police after her mother was arrested in June 2007. During her testimony, Schmitz reportedly stated that she followed her attorney's advice not to talk about the messages. She claimed she could not have written the messages to the victim on June 9, because she was helping repair a leak at her sister's home at the time. Schmitz's husband and ex-husband corroborated her claim, saying they assisted her with the repairs. The former teacher was arrested a second time Nov. 23 during a Leroy High School football game for allegedly having illegal contact with the student. She was charged with tampering with a witness. Schmitz was taken into custody by FBI agents, Nov. 27, 2007, following a bond revocation hearing in Washington County Court. She first appeared in a Mobile federal court Nov. 30, at which time she was denied bail by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bert Milling. It is not yet known whether the state will pursue charges against Schmitz related to her November arrest. Her federal court sentencing is scheduled for May 8.
Several unsuccessful attempts were made to reach both prosecutor Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Murphy and defense attorney Donald Briskman for comment.
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