PEORIA — A former Trewyn School teacher was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison for having sex with one of her students. Veronica Dixon, 29, who lives in Decatur, was found guilty of criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse in February after a three-day trial. Peoria County jurors deliberated for about 10 hours over two days before finding her guilty. The four- year sentence was the minimum possible. She had faced up to 15 years behind bars.
The charges alleged Dixon was in a position of “trust, authority or supervision.”
For her part, Dixon maintained her innocence. Her attorney, Christopher McCall, indicated she would likely appeal her conviction.
According to court records, the then 14-year-old boy involved was a student of hers. Dixon, then a first-year seventh-grade teacher at Trewyn, got the boy’s phone number at the beginning of the year. They talked and exchanged text messages. On Jan. 9, 2016, they met at Dixon’s house and had sex, according to court records.
The relationship came to light after the boy’s mother saw some of the text messages between the two on her phone, which the mother had allowed her son to use. The teen told police he and Dixon had engaged in inappropriate activity at school and while the two were alone, according to court records.
