Carlie Attebury is seen in court
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A former high school band director from Orange has been convicted on four counts in connection with her sexual relationship with an underage student. According to prosecutors, 31-year-old Carlie Attebury was involved in an intimate relationship with a 15-year-old student.

SANTA ANA (KTLA) -- A former high school band director from Orange was sentenced to 16 months in state prison and must register with the state as a sex offender after being found guilty of unlawful sex with a 15-year-old student.

According to prosecutors, 31-year-old Carlie Attebury formed an intimate relationship with the 15-year-old male student when they met at El Modena High School.

Attebury reportedly gained the trust of the student and his family, including dinner at the family's home.


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Attebury was convicted last November of one felony count of unlawful sexual intercourse, two felony counts of oral copulation of a minor under 16, and one felony count of sexual penetration by foreign object of a minor.

The alleged affair lasted from November 2007 to September 2008. Prosecutors said the couple exchanged hundreds of text messages, many of which were sexually explicit.

Attebury admitted sexual encounters with two former band students at parties at her apartment, but said both were 18.

The unidentified student, who is now 18, testified that he developed a crush on his high school band director when he was a sophomore.

That crush led to a homecoming day kiss when he was 15 and blossomed into a sexual relationship after he turned 16, according to prosecutors.

Attebury was the band teacher at El Modena High School in Orange.

Toward the end of their relationship, parents said they spotted Attebury with the student in the bleachers at a school event with her legs wrapped around him.

The parents told the principal and the principal then alerted police.

In a bizarre twist, another former student, Miguel Lopez, now 23, found out about the affair and tried to blackmail Attebury on Myspace.

Attebury never met Lopez's demands.

Lopez was arrested and received three years of probation.