Sara M. Domres(Photo: Waukesha County Sheriff's Office)
Waukesha â€" A former New Berlin West High School teacher who had sex with one of her students was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison.
Sara M. Domres, 29, pleaded guilty in August to two counts of sexual assault of a student by school staff, charges filed in April over incidents in 2015. She cried and hung her head as she was led from court in handcuffs.
The prosecutor noted that had Domres not been a teacher, her more than a dozen sexual encounters with the boy, who was 16 and 17 during the time, would have been misdemeanors. But because of the great trust placed in teachers, and their potential influence on students, the crime is a felony.
"I don't know how much brighter the line could be," Assistant District Attorney Ted Szczupakiewicz said. "There's no gray area. It's an absolute."
In her statement to Waukesha County Circuit Judge Lee S. Dreyfus Jr., Domres spoke of her love of the teaching profession and the extra hours she spent acting as a listener and counselor to students. Because of losing that profession, and extensive media coverage, she said she felt "the consequences of my actions have been enforced ten-fold."
But neither she nor her sister, father and mother-in-law who all spoke on her behalf hinted at what spurred her relationship with the victim, whose family did not appear or submit any impact statement.
Dreyfus told Domres her crime went "well beyond a mistake in judgment" or a single moment of weakness. "It was to meet your needs, and not those of a child," he said.
He imposed the two years plus three years of extended supervision on one count. On the second count he imposed two years in prison plus two years of supervision but suspended the sentence in favor of three years of probation.
The more intrusive sex offender probation wouldn't start for five years, and if Domres violated conditions, she could be returned to prison on the second count.
The conditions include having no contact with the victim or his family, or with any school besides those she may attend.
Domres, who has no prior criminal record or police contacts, also must register as a sex offender.
The student said he had been in Domres' English class as a sophomore in the 2014-'15 school year, became friends with Domres and began texting her frequently. Between April 2015 and January 2016 the two exchanged more than 1,100 messages.
That led to an incident of sexual intercourse in Domres' car at a park-and-ride lot on Moorland Road in New Berlin in July 2015, when the boy was 16. Then in October, after he had turned 17, he had sex with Domres at a Motel 6 in Brookfield, the boy told investigators. They found evidence that the boy's phone had been connected to the motel's WiFi on the same date the motel records showed Domres had reserved a room with a single bed and paid in cash.
Domres married her high school sweetheart in August 2015.
Last week, a Milwaukee County judge sentenced another former teacher to two years in prison for her sexual relationship with a teenage boy. Elizabeth Dillett, 31, taught kindergarten and coached at St. Peter Immanuel School, 7801 W. Acacia St. in Milwaukee. The victim was a former St. Peter student, whom she knew through friendship with his mother. He was in high school when they began the sexual relationship.
In December 2015, April M. Novak, 30, of Sussex, a former Menomonee Falls School District teacher, was charged with 12 counts of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old student. Her case is pending.
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