Former teacher admits to rape

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jim McGuire

A Broadalbin-Perth Middle School teacher charged in September with having sex with a 15-year-old former student pleaded guilty Wednesday in Fulton County Court to one count of third-degree rape.

Elizabeth A. Munn, 33, of Burdick Road, Gloversville, was immediately sentenced by Judge Richard C. Giardino to six months in jail and 10 years’ probation. Since she entered jail voluntarily in February, officials said, she was eligible to be released Wednesday.

At the time of her arrest in September, officials said Munn, an eighth-grade social studies teacher, had taught the boy in a previous school year. The sexual contact occurred sometime last summer, officials said.

Giardino classified Munn as a Level 1 sex offender. As part of the plea agreement, Munn surrendered her teaching license and resigned her position in the district.

Munn, who is married and the mother of two children, answered all of Giardino’s questions in a clear, polite voice, but said, “no sir,” when he offered her an opportunity to comment before sentencing.

Her attorney, Peter J. Moschetti Jr., of Clifton Park, called the sentence “very just.”

Fulton County District Attorney Louise K. Sira expressed her satisfaction with the sentence, telling the court the terms are supported by the victim and his family and that Munn had sought psychiatric counseling before she was aware she was under investigation. Sira said the plea agreement was also acceptable because Munn did not have contact with the boy in her capacity as a teacher and he was not a student of hers at the time of the incident.

By seeking help, Sira said, Munn recognized she “needed help to control her impulse.” Sira also noted the incident is Munn’s “sole indiscretion against the law.”

The maximum sentence for third-degree rape is 11⁄3 to 4 years, Sira said.

Sira has declined to discuss the circumstances of Munn’s arrest, but has said that authorities were not alerted to the case by the boy or his family.

The sexual contact occurred at a location in the town of Perth, Sira has said.