Stafford Woman Guilty of Sex With Minor

A former Gar-Field High School teacher pleaded guilty last Thursday to charges of having sex with a student on multiple occasions.

Tina Marie Amato, 28, of 413 White Oak Road in Stafford County, was accused of carrying on a sexual relationship with a male student starting when he was 15 years old and going on for about a year.

InsideNova.com reports that Amato, a former language arts teacher, pleaded guilty last week in Prince William Circuit Court to three counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor by a custodian and one count of crimes against nature.

Authorities said Amato had been in a relationship with the boy for over a year, and that the two had sex on multiple occasions.

Administrators discovered the relationship on April 1, 2011, when the boy's cell phone was confiscated because he was texting in school. Authorities said Amato had sent the boy text messages "of a vulgar and sexual nature."