EL DORADO — A former Magnolia teacher was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Thursday after admitting she arranged alcohol-fueled sexual encounters for four teenagers for several months.
Donna L. Sanders, 47, offered no explanation for buying alcohol and facilitating rendezvousfor two girls, ages 12 and 13, and two boys, ages 15 and 16.
She didn't watch, participate or receive payment, she testified.
However, she recounted being raped by two men when she was 15. Her therapist argued the experience contributed to her poor judgment, as she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I'm embarrassed, ashamed, very sorry," Sanders said meekly after pleading guilty to five counts of permitting abuse of a minor. "I just hate it."
Sanders, who had no criminal history, will be eligible for parole in about eight years.
She was a special-needs teacher at Magnolia Junior High School until April, when she resigned on the day she was arrested.
On one occasion, she rented motel rooms in El Dorado for the two girls, the 16-year-old boy and 21-year-old Dustin L. Rowland.
Rowland was accused of rape after authorities said he engaged in oral sex with the 13-year-old girl.
"I'm thankful my daughter's not dead," her mother said. She said her daughter now becomes angry easily and has trust issues with adults.
"I don't know how this will affect her later," the mother said.
Another time, Sanders took the 12-year-old girl and the 15-year-old boy to a family deercamp, where they had sex. The same pair also had sex in the back of Sanders' car while she drove them around with the music turned up, police reports said.
Sanders bought them alcohol each time, but she denied she saw the youths drunk.
Family members of the 15-year-old boy said he has struggled at school and has bouts of depression since the episodes, which lasted from November 2007 through April 2008.
"He doesn't trust adults," his mother said.
Sanders' friends, family and colleagues testified that they couldn't reconcile her actions with that of the woman they know. She was committed to her church, her two daughters and her students, they said.
"She snapped," offered Florine Berry, a former special needs aide who once worked with Sanders.
Sanders' husband, Terry Sanders, an assistant principal at Magnolia High School, demurred when asked what he thought the proper punishment would be for his wife.
"I just want you to do what's right," he told Circuit Judge Larry Chandler.
Terry Sanders said he was shocked to learn what his wife had been doing. He said he didn't know the extent of the sexual abuse she endured in 1976, though he said she sometimes got "the blues."
Prosecuting Attorney Robin Carroll of El Dorado called the acts "evil" and "horrible" and said it was a "breach of trust."
He asked for the maximum sentence of 20 years per count, saying that was the right message to send to the community.However, he agreed to drop the more serious charge - rape, as an accomplice - in the plea agreement. Under the deal Sanders had to agree to testify against Rowland.
Rowland is to stand trial in February.
Arkansas, Pages 12, 14 on 01/30/2009