Burbank teacher set to be sentenced in teen student sex case

Sentencing is scheduled today for a 33-year-old former Burbank middle school teacher who pleaded no contest to charges stemming from a seven-month relationship she had with a 14-year-old male student.

Amy Beck – who pleaded no contest March 25 to one count each of unlawful sexual intercourse and committing a lewd act on a child – is facing a two-year state prison term when she appears before Burbank Superior Court Judge Patrick Hegarty.

The former David Starr Jordan Middle School teacher also is expected to be ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Beck surrendered at the Burbank police station on March 8, accompanied by her attorney, and "said she had sexual relations with one of her students," police Sgt. Robert Quesada said earlier.

After Beck turned herself in, police interviewed the boy, who was by then 15, and he "confirmed that the acts did occur" between March and September of last year, according to police.

"This plea means the victim won't have to testify," Deputy District Attorney Debra Archuleta said in March. "We believe this is a satisfactory resolution of the case."

Beck, a mother of three and the wife of a Los Angeles police officer, resigned from David Starr Jordan Middle School.

Defense attorney Michael Williamson told reporters his client is "emotionally fragile. She is doing as well as could be expected."

"She understood the day she walked into the police department that she would in fact go to state prison, so that's been weighing on her," Williamson said.