Amanda Leigh Quinonez had plenty of reasons to cry in court. Unfortunately, none of them involved getting an Oscar.
The former Riverside teacher broke down in tears Monday as the mother of the student she sexually abused spoke about the damage done to her 14-year-old son.
Quinonez was in Riverside Superior Court for sentencing after having a sexual relationship with the student nearly four years ago. This is exactly the kind of story that makes you wonder how some adults look at a child and decide to destroy every professional boundary in existence.
The boy’s mother described the torment her son experienced after the abuse. Her words painted a painful picture of a teenager who was forced to deal with something no child should ever have to experience.
Meanwhile, Quinonez was sobbing in the courtroom.
Quinonez, a former teacher of Eleanor Rosevelt High School, who worked as a water polo and swim coach before her arrest on April 2022.
Speaking to the parents, Quinonez apologized through tears and admitted she failed as a teacher. She also said she hopes her own daughter would not judge her by the woman she is today, but by the woman she will become.
Quinonez pleaded guilty in March to two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object and providing sexually explicit material to a minor, and one count of lewd acts on a child according to Patch.
It is hard to imagine the courtroom scene. On one side, a mother explaining what her child went through. On the other, the adult responsible for the abuse crying as the consequences finally arrived.
The boy’s mother recalled that when she went to the baseball field asking for her son, the first coach stayed silent. A second coach then directed her back to the first, who later revealed that her son was in the administration building.
Once she arrived at the building, she saw her teenage son sitting silently next to a Sheriff’s Deputy. As time went on, she was made aware that a sexual relationship with Quinonez was taking place.
The boy then admitted the relationship and revealed that Quinonez had told him he needed to protect her.
As a result of the incident, he and his older brother had to quit the baseball team and went to a different school, due to being ridiculed by other students who had learned of the sordid teacher’s behavior.
Fighting back tears and gasping for air, the boy’s mother was alongside her husband, who told the court their son had gone through a lot and that other baseball players are still talking about his past high school relationship.
While Quinonez sat crying in the dock, the victim’s mother had already lived through the far more painful part.
Now the court gets to decide what consequences Quinonez will face. And unlike a bad school assignment, this is one lesson that cannot simply be erased and handed back with a red pen.
