SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Jacqueline Ma, the former National City teacher who is accused of sexually abusing her students, changed her plea to guilty during a court hearing Wednesday ahead of her scheduled trial.
The 35-year-old has been in custody since she was first arrested on campus of Lincoln Acres Elementary in the spring of 2023 on suspicion she had engaged in sexual relationships with two students, who were respectively 11 and 12 years old at the time.
Earlier that year, she had been named a “Teacher of the Year” by the San Diego County Office of Education.
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Prosecutors alleged these relationships involved the exchange of suggestive text messages and explicit photos, as well as at least one instance where she allegedly removed her shirt after asking one of the victims for a private meeting in her classroom.
One of the two inappropriate relationships Ma engaged in lasted for almost a year, prosecutors said during a preliminary hearing in 2023.
Shortly after her arrest, she pleaded not guilty to 21 felony counts. During Wednesday’s hearing, she changed her plea on four counts related to both victims, including lewd acts on a minor by force or fear and possession of child sexual abuse material.
“Obviously she’s taken responsibility and not gone to trial. The consequences of trial would have been more significant,” deputy district attorney Drew Heart said after the hearing. “With this resolution, we’re sparing the victims from having to come in and testify in front of a jury.”
As part of her plea agreement, the remainder of the charges were dismissed by the district attorney’s office and Ma accepted a potential prison sentence of 30 years to life with the possibility of parole. Her sentencing is scheduled on May 9.
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The maximum she could have received should the case gone to trial would have been 180 years to life in prison due to the severity of the charges sought by the district attorney’s office.
“From our office’s perspective, it was very important that these be charged as not just sex offenses, but sex offenses done under duress and that’s what she plead to,” Heart explained.
“This was very significant to us, not just because she won an award, but because of who she was in the community,” he continued. “We think this plea deal sends a message to the community, not just about sex offenses on children, but when you leverage a position of trust, when you leverage good faith with parents in the community and you do this to their children, there will be significant penalties to pay.”
FOX 5/KUSI’s Juliette Vara contributed to this report. Watch her full report in the player above.
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