Idaho
Idaho teacher sentenced to prison for sexual battery, rape of teen adopted by a local family days prior
A former Idaho schoolteacher was sentenced to prison time for sexual battery and rape of a minor who was adopted out of the foster system by a local family just days before she assaulted him.
Jessica Lawson, 36, accepted a plea deal for felony sexual battery and charges of felony rape of a minor. She previously faced charges of felony delivery of a controlled substance and misdemeanor dispensing alcohol to a minor for allegedly giving the 16-year-old boy marijuana and alcohol, but those were dropped as part of the deal.
Lawson — who taught at South Fremont High School from August 2021 through June 2023 — will face two to 20 years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender, along with attending sex offender treatment. There will also be a no-contact order in place against the victim for 20 years.
An officer from the Saint Anthony Police Department pulled over Lawson’s car on the morning of Nov. 6, 2023 because her vehicle had no visible taillights. The cop found the teen boy driving, having been given the keys by Lawson who was too “drunk to drive,” authorities said.
The boy admitted to having used marijuana, which was given to him by Lawson, and was driven home by the officer. Lawson was arrested later that week after the boy told his parents that she had picked him up that night and described how they had smoked and drank alcohol before having sex.
Lawson called the teen’s parents and admitted to having given him alcohol and picking him up, but denied that “anything else had occurred,” including the alleged sexual acts and substance use.
The teen’s parents, who had adopted him just days before he was assaulted, said that while their son may have had no real idea about what was happening, he will still be dealing with the fallout of Lawson’s violation for years to come.
“It takes a village to raise a young man, especially a young man that has been in and out of foster care, that has never known what it’s like to have a mom and a dad,” the father told the court, according to East Idaho News.
“My son is going to take a long time to heal and he doesn’t even know the wounds that he has yet. He’s not going to understand those wounds until he’s a parent and he’s sending his daughter or son…to the house of a parent that he trusts.”
The teen’s mother also attested that he struggles to differentiate between safe and unsafe situations as a result of his time in the foster care system.
“We brought [my son] in because he needed somebody, and he didn’t have anybody…It was pretty quick that we realized this is a really great kid, and he’s wonderful and he should be in our family,” the mother told the court.
“He’s got a lot of problems because he didn’t have a mom and dad that taught him how to recognize safe people. And you took advantage of that…she knew she could get something from him.”
The victim’s parents believe that Lawson would’ve gotten a harsher sentence if she were a male perpetrator or if their son were a girl, but Senior District Judge Stephen Dunn, who was in charge of sentencing, denied this.
If you have been sexually assaulted and live in New York, you can call 1-800-942-6906 for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the state, you can dial the 24/7 National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
I’m not comfortable with AI (artificial intelligence). It’s going to rob us of liberty and humanity. But our economic and military rivals are diving in headfirst. The argument is that if China gets there first, the situation will only worsen. Idaho is considered a good location for developers, with open space and cheap energy. Some of it is nuclear from Idaho National Laboratory. I’m not as worried about electricity demand as I am about water. We’re in the midst of a drought, and we don’t know when it ends. I guess for national security reasons, we’re being asked to abandon the region and leave it to the machines.
Opposition from All Directions
Opposition unites a diverse coalition, from the religious to farmers, to labor activists. Such as the socialist Bernie Sanders, who wrote about his concerns in the Wall Street Journal (behind a paywall). Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are calling for a moratorium while the impact is studied.
This reminds me of opposition to the Lava Ridge Wind Project. It came from multiple sides. When our state legislature unanimously opposed the incredible idea. I had told House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel about local opposition. She did some research and got the Democrats’ caucus on board.
Danger, Danger, Danger
AI is going to deliver some wonders. We may see life expectancy double, and equations that have bedeviled us for millennia solved in minutes.
More than 30 years ago, I was at a public hearing on a matter I don’t remember, but I can recall a comment from one of the men testifying. He told me the Taoist symbol (Yin Yang) is split between opportunity and danger. Tread softly.
FaceBook Meta Data Center Revealed
A look inside and outside of what we’ll see in Kuna.
Gallery Credit: Kevin Miller
A powerful search engine that organizes and provides access to vast information on the internet.
Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.
BIZ BUZZ
IDAHO FALLS
Tired of sitting all day, he made a change. Now he’s helping Idaho Falls do the same
IDAHO FALLS – Like many working professionals, Scott Gudmundson has spent more than 20 years behind a desk, only to stand up at the end of the day with stiff joints.
The lack of mobility motivated him to seek a life change and, ultimately, a new business venture. He and his wife, Carolyn, opened The Vital Stretch at 3482 South 25th East next to Burly Burger in September 2025. It’s the franchise’s first location in the western United States and offers customers one-on-one assisted stretching sessions.
Much like a massage clinic, customers pay for a monthly membership and come in for an hour-long session. Through the end of April, the first visit is complimentary and includes a mobility assessment to determine what areas to focus on. Customers lie on a table while a Vital Stretch practitioner stretches limbs and joints in a way catered to clients’ specific needs.
“The part of wellness and fitness that we’re missing is the recovery and the longevity,” Katie Smith, the business’s general manager, tells EastIdahoNews.com. “Mobility is our main focus.”
Smith says all the practitioners have educational training in the field of sports and exercise science, or something related. The company also provides an additional 60 hours of training for all new employees.
Since opening, practitioner Kelsi Schlenker says they’ve helped a variety of people with mobility issues. Some, like Scott, are people who spend a lot of time sitting down. Others have sports or trauma-related injuries, arthritis or other neurological or auto-immune disorders, such as multiple sclerosis.
Regardless of the circumstances, Smith says the services are a benefit to anyone who comes in the door, whether they’re “weekend warriors” or “graceful agers.”
“We ask our members to be involved. We’re talking the whole time about tension, comfort level,” says Smith. “We like everybody to start with a commitment of 90 days. That gives us time to help the body believe what we’re doing and establish goals. The body doesn’t believe anything is real unless you’ve done it for a significant amount of time.”
Gudmondson says mobility is the key to aging well, and he says he’s noticed significant improvements in his mobility since incorporating a stretch routine into his day.
“I’m hitting that window of aging gracefully, and I’m looking for anything that can help me extend the amount of time I have to do the activities that I like to do,” Gudmondson says. “This particular franchise became available in Idaho Falls. It’s a new concept, but it’s something that other cities have adopted, and it’s pretty popular.”
The Vital Stretch was founded in 2019 by Rob and Melissa Goldring, according to the company’s website. Rob, a chiropractic physician, and Melissa, a physical therapist, had 50 years of combined experience and noticed that tightness in one part of the body created a chain reaction and affected how the entire body moved and felt.
They opened their first location in Norwalk, Connecticut. Since franchising in 2022, it’s grown to include 25 locations nationwide. The Idaho Falls store is the first location in the western U.S., the website says. Locations in San Antonio and Minneapolis are the closest locations to Idaho.
Gudmondson says he’s grateful for the positive response from the community and hopes to see the business continue to grow.
“A lot of people have said they’ve been waiting for something like this to open,” Schlenker says. “We’ve had great feedback and have been able to see the changes (in people’s mobility).”
The Vital Stretch is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday with a 5 p.m. closing time on Friday. It’s open until 1 p.m. on Saturday.
To schedule an appointment or learn more, visit the website or call (208) 419-3207.
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