A former countywide “Teacher of the Year” pleaded guilty Wednesday to engaging in sex acts with a 12-year-old student at the National City elementary school where she taught.
Jaqueline Ma, 35, is expected to be sentenced to 30 years to life in prison when she is due in Chula Vista Superior Court on May 9. Her change of plea comes about two months before her trial was scheduled to start.
Ma pleaded guilty to two counts of lewd acts with a child under age 14, with duress, and also admitted to a lewd act involving a second child under 14, Deputy District Attorney Drew Hart said. According to prior court testimony, both children had been students at Lincoln Acres Elementary School, where Ma was a teacher.
Ma also pleaded guilty to a count of possessing material containing a minor engaged in or simulating sexual conduct.
Ma was Arrested in March 2023 After Victim’s Parent Reported the Inappropriate Relationship
Ma had taught fifth and sixth grades in the National School District since 2013. In August 2022, she was one of five teachers tapped as a San Diego County Teacher of the Year. She was arrested seven months later. In March 2023, the parent of a 12-year-old boy reached out to National City police to report a suspected inappropriate relationship with their son.
Prosecutors alleged Ma had a months-long relationship with the child, sending him illicit photographs of herself and asking him to do the same. Prosecutors said that she would persistently tell him to “engage in sex acts” while he was at home.
Investigators Found Love Letters, Text Messages in Which Ma Became Frustrated When Victim Didn’t Message Back quick
Investigators found the victim’s picture in Ma’s wallet, jewelry with his initials, love letters in her classroom and text exchanges that showed Ma became frustrated that the victim didn’t message her back quick enough, prosecutors alleged.
Prosecutors also said Ma expressed jealousy when the victim was talking to other girls. Ma allegedly communicated with the student through a texting app, where she encouraged him to hide their messages.
There was a Second Victim Who Claimed Ma Sent Him Sexually Charged Messages
The investigation into Ma revealed a second suspected victim — a boy who was 11 years old when prosecutors say she sent him sexually charged messages, according to testimony at her preliminary hearing.
At the end of that 2023 hearing, Superior Court Judge Maryann D’Addezio said she thought the evidence was “overwhelmingly clear that the defendant took advantage of two children.”
D’Addezio said Ma used her authority over one of the boys, in particular, to “coerce him into behavior that he wasn’t ready for, for a relationship that was beyond inappropriate, beyond wrong.” By one measure, she had faced about 165 years to life in prison if convicted at trial on all counts.
