Teachers sentenced in separate student abuse cases

Two separate legal cases involving former teachers sentenced for the sexual abuse of students have concluded in the United States.

In New Jersey, Allison Havemann-Niedrach, 45, was sentenced to 12 years in state prison for first-degree aggravated sexual assault. Prosecutors stated that Havemann-Niedrach, a former special education teacher at Freehold Intermediate School, groomed an eighth-grade student through approximately 25,000 text messages. The relationship, which involved gifts and sexual contact, lasted six months before being reported by a vice principal in June 2024. As part of her sentence, she must register as a sex offender and forfeit her teaching certificate.

In California, Amanda Leigh Quinonez, a former language arts teacher and coach at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, appeared for sentencing in Riverside Superior Court. Quinonez pleaded guilty to counts including sexual penetration with a foreign object, providing sexually explicit material to a minor, and lewd acts on a child. The case involved a sexual relationship with a student under the age of 15 that occurred several years ago.