GOODYEAR, ARIZONA — A former award-winning teacher in the United States was sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting to sexually abusing a 13-year-old male student in her classroom.
Brittany Zamora, who was 27 when the abuse was discovered, was a sixth-grade teacher at Las Brisas Academy in Goodyear, Arizona. She had previously been named Teacher of the Year in 2016, making the case particularly shocking to the local community.
According to prosecutors, Zamora initiated contact with the student through electronic messages and subsequently engaged in a sexual relationship with him. School staff became aware of the situation in March 2018 after the boy's parents discovered sexually explicit communications on his phone and alerted authorities.
Investigators said the abuse included sexual encounters at the school and in Zamora's vehicle. Authorities also said another child was exposed to some of the incidents.
Zamora initially faced numerous felony charges. In June 2019, however, she pleaded guilty to three charges: sexual conduct with a minor, attempted molestation of a child and public sexual indecency.
On July 12, 2019, a Maricopa County judge sentenced her to 20 years in the Arizona Department of Corrections. Prosecutors had sought a longer sentence, but 20 years was the minimum available under the plea agreement. She was also placed under lifetime probation requirements and ordered to register as a sex offender after release.
The case also drew attention because Zamora was married at the time. Her husband, Daniel Zamora, was later named in a civil lawsuit brought by the victim's family, which alleged that he knew about the relationship and attempted to persuade the family not to involve police. He was not criminally charged in connection with his wife's offences, and the civil case was settled for an undisclosed amount.
Zamora later filed for divorce while serving her sentence, describing the marriage as irretrievably broken.
The case has continued to attract attention as an example of the serious abuse of trust that can occur when an adult in a position of authority sexually exploits a child.
Authorities stressed that the responsibility for such abuse rests entirely with the adult offender. The victim was a child under the care and authority of a teacher.
Zamora remains incarcerated under her 20-year sentence. Recent reporting indicates that her scheduled release date is in 2038, after which she will remain subject to sex-offender registration requirements.
Editor’s note: Reports sometimes describe this case as a “rape” case, but the official Maricopa County Attorney’s Office record states that Zamora pleaded guilty to sexual conduct with a minor, attempted molestation of a child and public sexual indecency. This report uses the official conviction terminology for accuracy.
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