Former St. Johns County substitute teacher charged with having sex with 16-year-old student

A woman who used to substitute teach in St. Johns County middle and high schools was arrested last week, accused of having sex with a 16-year-old student. The arrest is the latest step in a long-running investigation into Stacey Slamka that started more than a year ago, according to a report by First Coast News. Slamka was fired last year after a parent showed Pedro Menendez High School officials text messages allegedly exchanged between Slamka and the parent’s 16-year-old son, the television station reported.

Police had been waiting for electronic forensic evidence from the phones to come back and this month a judge signed warrants for Slamka’s arrest. Warrants were issued for six counts, but so far she has only been charged with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. The charge is a second-degree felony in Florida punishable by up to 15 years in prison, so Slamka is looking at up to 45 years in prison – 90 years of all six charges end up being pursued in this St. Johns County Sex Crimes case. The law specifically addresses sex acts between a person over the age of 24 and a teen who is either 16 or 17. The law is intended to make consequences more severe for a larger age gap between the minor and the adult, differentiating this from a sexual relationship from two people who may be in the same high school and are 16 and 18, respectively. In this instance, they were in the same school – the difference is one was a teacher.

Slamka allegedly told police in her interview in this St. Johns County Sex Crimes case that some of the case “would go away,” according to the television stations report. The text messages could be critical, because right now the case sets up to be a “he said, she said,” case. Regardless, Slamka is unlikely to spend 90 years or 45 years in prison if she does plead guilty or end up being convicted at trial. Courts have traditionally been more lenient on women charged with these types of crimes, as opposed to men (read more in our November post). But she would in all likelihood be a registered sex offender, which has its own set of severe restrictions. Sex crimes are the only crimes in which, if a convict moves, all of his or her neighbors are notified about the person’s conviction. The person is restricted as to where they live, and cannot reside within 1,000 feet from a school.

Any type of sexual allegation, especially involving a minor, can be difficult to recover from – even if someone is found not guilty or a case is dropped. Our Experienced St. Johns County Sex Crimes Attorney has represented hundreds of people charged with varying degrees of sex crimes and can fully explain the details of being classified as a sex offender and what it could mean for you or your loved one.

If you or a loved one needs a criminal defense attorney in St. Augustine or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a FREE CONSULTATION. Our St. Johns County Sex Crimes Attorney, Victoria “Tori” Mussallem, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.