A distraught Colorado mother confronted the teacher who sexually assaulted her special needs son in court, as she was sentenced to four years behind bars.
Imagine Key Ewer, 28, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the student she was assigned to look after at Brady Exploration School in Lakewood as part of a plea deal.
On January 31, she was formally sentenced to four years in prison with the victim’s mother addressing the court.
She said: ‘The defendant preyed on my son, leading him to believe she genuinely cared for him.
‘All while exploiting him for money and manipulating him into thinking he was “the one”. What makes this even more painful is that I trusted the defendant.
‘Had I known what was truly happening, I would never have allowed her such close access to him.’
As part of her plea agreement with prosecutors, Ewer pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in the first degree.
The District Attorney’s office said that they had dismissed three other felony counts and one misdemeanor in exchange for the plea.
In a statement, the DA’s office said that Ewer had introduced the youngster to fentanyl, alcohol and weapons.
Special Victims Prosecutor Brynn Chase said in a court that Ewer had sent the victim ‘thousands upon thousands upon thousands’ of text messages.
In these, prosecutors said she asked him to bring a gun to their sexual encounters and even asked him to ‘bring the gun to school and shoot another faculty member’ in the leg.
Suspicions about their relationship first came to the attention of a teacher at the school in November 2023.
They called officers after seeing ‘inappropriate writing’ on one of their worksheets, according to the DA’s office.
After an investigation was launched, they uncovered Ewer’s ‘favoritism’ toward the student that had been noticed by staff.
Officials estimate that the inappropriate relationship had started in September 2023.
Detectives then discovered evidence of ‘frequent sexual encounters, constant digital communication, and the introduction of drugs, alcohol, and weapons’, they said.
Ewer worked for Jefferson County Public Schools from 2015 to 2023 as a school nurse, a paraprofessional and a teaching assistant. She was arrested in January 2024.
Speaking at her sentencing she said: ‘I just want to apologize to the victim and the victim’s family. I’m really sorry; this will never happen again.’
District Court Judge Contiguglia stated that while this was Ewer’s first adult felony conviction, her actions were ‘particularly aggravating’.
Contiguglia said that while she was out on bond, Ewer had also picked up a drug case in Douglas County.
Once released from prison, she will be subjected to a lifetime registration as a sex offender.