Teacher jailed after sleeping with four underage pupils on her ‘bucket list’…. telling one of them ‘I just became a paedophile’
Child abuser Michelle Mellinger, 49, was arrested when colleagues heard pupils talking about having sex with her
A FEMALE teaching assistant has been jailed for having sex with four of her underage pupils – telling one of her victims “I just became a paedophile.”
Child abuser Michelle Mellinger, 49, was arrested after colleagues at her school in Pennsylvania overheard students talking about romping with her.
A court heard how the predator, who told one student she liked “younger people”, targeted six pupils in total with one fleeing her home when she started to undress.
Her young male victims, aged between 15 and 17, said Mellinger would text them, before picking them up and taking them to her house for illicit sex sessions.
She even told one pupil that he was on her “bucket list”.
Mellinger said to another student: "I prefer younger people to older people."
During a sordid text conversation with another boy, she said: “Wow, you look amazing. I just became a paedophile."
The paedophile, who was a special education teaching assistant at McKeesport Area High School, was jailed for between 11 and 23 months after pleading guilty to a string of sex charges.
Her charges included five counts of having intercourse or sexual contact with students and one of sexual assault.
The 263 days she has already spent in jail, since her arrest in October, have been credited to her sentence.
A statement from a mum of one of the abused boys said: “Her family is forever changed .
“Her son is depressed and doesn't trust any of his teachers.”
Paula Whisner, a neighbour of the child abuser, said at the time of her arrest: “I’m totally shocked.
“Who knows what happens behind those doors?
“She's very stoic. She doesn't have any kind of expression on her face.”
The disgraced teaching assistant blamed an alcohol problem for her two-year campaign of abuse.
But Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel said the shamed suspect needed to take responsibility for her crimes.
She said: “It wasn't a bad decision. There were six victims over the course of two years.
“She didn't get drunk and seduce a kid down the block.”
Mellinger will be placed on five year’s probation once she released and will also serve one year’s house arrest.
Her ex-husband, William Mellinger, 50, has also been charged with molesting three girls in an unrelated case.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368