Teacher, 44, sentenced for r@ping 13-year-old student

A Los Angeles school teacher has been sentenced to 10-years in prison for r@ping a 13-year-old student.

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Colleen Jo Matarico was sentenced on Monday, April 27, during her final court appearance.

The 44-year-old previously pleaded no contest to two counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years; the six other charges against her were dropped.

As Matarico was sentenced to 10 years for her crime, the disgraced teacher smiled, laughed, and shook her head. She was also ordered not to contact her victim, “Jeremiah,” in any way, which included electronically or through a third party.

Her only words were “Good morning” and “Yes” when the judge asked if Matarico understood the sentence.

The teacher sat next to her attorney, Leonard Levine, who whispered to her just moments before she was hauled away to begin her 10 years behind bars.

A bailiff escorted her out of the secure courtroom door, and the attorneys piled out of the courtroom.

Matarico,  who worked at John Burroughs Middle School, started abusing the boy she called “crystal meth” when he turned 13, while she was still his teacher, prosecutors revealed.

Most of the alleged sex abuse took place between August and November 2025, per the criminal complaint. She was also accused of giving the boy marijuana and said she was going to leave her husband for the student.

Levine described the case to The California Post as “very unfortunate” and said Matarico is “doing as well as she can.” He was confident that she wouldn’t contact the victim, that she was remorseful and knew what she had done was wrong.