A former Payson teacher will serve 180 days in jail for having sexual relations with her 16-year-old proctor son.

At a sentencing hearing Monday at Provo's 4th District Court, Judge Samuel McVey also sentenced Jennifer Gonzales to 36 months of probation and ordered her to complete a sex offender treatment program. Defense attorney Mike Esplin said Gonzales has been in treatment since shortly after her arrest in March.

Gonzales, 32, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of attempted forcible sexual abuse, a third-degree felony. As part of her plea deal, the charges were reduced from forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.

Esplin asked McVey to sentence her to probation with GPS monitoring so she would be able to keep the two jobs she has been working since being fired from Mt. Nebo Junior High School in Payson following her arrest. But McVey said he was concerned about the 15-year age difference between Gonzales and her victim, as well as by the fact that Gonzales was entrusted by the victim's family and by society at large to care for him.

"Regardless of whether he, as a matter of fact, consented to this, as a matter of law he was incapable of consenting," McVey said.

The victim's mother and grandmother urged McVey to send Gonzales to jail.

"He needed someone to love him and care for him, but instead of being a parent for him you took this time to work on him so you could satisfy your own sexual urges and make yourself happy at (his) expense," the victim's grandmother said to Gonzales at the hearing. "He trusted you. We all trusted you. We asked you to care for him like a mother, not like a lover."

Deputy county attorney Mariane O'Bryant asked McVey to follow Adult Probation and Parole's recommendation in sentencing Gonzales to jail time, citing her position of trust over the victim. A proctor child is similar to a foster child. After Gonzales was arrested, the victim defended her because he believed they were in love and had a serious relationship, O'Bryant said, but in the time since then he has told prosecutors that there was more sexual contact between the two than he initially disclosed. O'Bryant said she did not know how long the two carried on a sexual relationship.

"This individual, as well as many of our teenage victims, thought that he was in love with this individual ... and frankly did not disclose to us everything that happened until it became clear there was no relationship," O'Bryant said.

Gonzales was arrested in late March after her husband, Richard, came home early from work and found his wife and the teen downstairs with candles and oils. He told police he saw the teen run into a bathroom while pulling his pants up. His wife, who was topless, pulled her pants up as well, he told police.

According to police, Richard pointed a 9mm handgun at her and threatened to kill her during the incident. He also pointed his gun at the teen and told him to get out of the house, she told police. He pleaded no contest in June to threatening or using a dangerous weapon in a fight, and was sentenced to 18 months of probation. The couple filed for divorce in May.

At the time of the incident, Gonzales was a teacher at Mt. Nebo Junior High School, where she taught sixth and seventh graders at the school's Cornerstone Unit, an alternative program for students with behavioral problems. The Cornerstone Unit is separate from the rest of the Payson school. She was placed on paid leave after the arrest and was later fired.

Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or jduda@heraldextra.com.