A former teacher at an elite private all-girls high school in Los Angeles was sentenced to one year in jail and five years of probation Wednesday after pleading guilty to sexually abusing two former students.
Appearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Joseph Thomas Koetters pleaded guilty to two felony counts of oral copulation and two counts of felony sexual penetration with a foreign object on a minor.
Koetters had been charged with 14 sex crimes earlier this year after two women came forward to reveal he had sexual relationships with them when the 16-year-olds attended Marlborough School, an elite all-girls private school in L.A.
Koetters' attorney, Leonard Levine, told BuzzFeed News his client "has accepted responsibility for his actions that occurred 10 to 15 years ago by his guilty plea."
Koetters, 47, will also have to register as a sex offender, pay fines and restitution to the victims, cannot own a firearm, and is barred from teaching.
Koetters watched silently as one of his two victims read an emotional statement during his sentencing — the TV cameras turned off to protect her identity:
"My goal in this has always been that Mr. Koetters pay for his actions. I remember how self-assured he was that he would never be caught, and the arrogance of that still enrages me.Looking back now, though, I see how easy it might be to feel like a brilliant mastermind when the people you are manipulating are children.
After today, I’m relieved to be able to finally move on from this. Justice has been served, as it should have been years ago."
BuzzFeed News first named Koetters, and brought the allegations against him to light — including interviews with other former students who did not file charges but who said he had pursued inappropriate relationships with them during his 14 years teaching English at Marlborough.
One 2013 graduate, Mikaela Gilbert-Lurie, had reported Koetters to school administrators in 2012 after he sent her inappropriate emails and, she said, touched her knee. However, Koetters remained on staff.
After BuzzFeed News made inquiries, Koetters resigned from his position at Polytechnic School, another exclusive private school in Los Angeles where he taught from 2013 to 2014 after voluntarily leaving Marlborough.
The first woman told Los Angeles police in July 2014 that Koetters had a year-long sexual relationship with her when she was his student in 2000, resulting in a pregnancy and miscarriage. Koetters was arrested on four sex crime charges in February 2015 related to her claims.
The second woman told police in April 2015 and in an exclusive BuzzFeed News report that Koetters had a sexual relationship with her when she was his student from February to June 2004. He was charged with 10 additional sex crimes related to her claims in May, bringing the total to 14.
Koetters had initially pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on bail both times shortly after his court appearances.
Polytechnic and Marlborough conducted their own investigations after BuzzFeed News reported on the sex abuse allegations in July 2014.
As a result, Marlborough's long-standing school headmaster, Barbara Wagner, resigned. The school is also facing a civil suit filed by the first victim.