Texas teacher convicted of group sex with students

ABCNews

A jury found a Texas high school teacher and mother of three guilty today of having sex with four male students while being videotaped.

Brittni Colleps, 28, a former English teacher, was convicted of 16 counts of having improper relationships with students. Since the men were all 18 at the time of the sexual relationships, she was not charged with statutory rape.

The case against Colleps has been filled with graphic testimony and cell phone video that allegedly showed Colleps having group sex with the four students in her home during April and May of 2011.

Prosecutors said the group sex occurred while her children and husband, an Army specialist, were away.

Colleps faces 20 years in prison for the convictions and is expected to be sentenced later today.

During the trial, students from Kennednale High School, where she taught and coached sports, testified about how the relationships began.

One of those students said his relationship began with an innocent text message. “Hey… It’s Coach Colleps. Do you know what time the baseball game starts?”

Soon after that the student says that he and Colleps were exchanging almost 100 texts a day. The prosecutor says that the relationship progressed into explicit text messages and then an agreement to meet for sex.

One of the young men she is accused of sleeping with has publicly stated that she didn’t commit a crime.

“She [Colleps] said that she craved, that I had something that she wanted,” said another.

The men were not identified during the trial. Colleps’ husband, Christopher, is sticking by his wife despite the accusations.

“If you know Brittni, you know she’s an empathetic loving, loyal person. Brittni is a loving mother and continuously puts the needs of our children above her own,” Christopher Colleps said before the trial began.