Northern Guilford Middle School teacher charged for the alleged rape of a student under 15

By KevinMarcilliat, In Sex Crimes, 0 Comments

GREENSBORO N.C. – A former teacher at Northern Guilford Middle School was arrested by police for allegedly committing statutory rape against a 15-year-old student while she was a teacher at the school.

Deputies of the Guilford County Sherrif’s office arrested 41-year-old Carly Smith after investigating the allegations. According to reports, Ms. Smith allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with the student for six months since December 2018.

Ms. Smith was employed by Northern Guilford Middle School in 2016. She resigned in late June 2019 as investigations were going on. (source: Charlotte Observer)

Ms. Smith was charged with the following offenses:

In North Carolina, statutory rape, statutory sex offense, indecent liberties with a child, and indecent liberties with a student by a teacher are all felonies. There are 10 classes of felonies in North Carolina (A, B1, B2, C, D, E, F, G, and I) that correspond with the severity of the offense and the punishment. For statutory rape, the age gap between the victim and the defendant determines the class of felony. If the age difference is under 6 years, it’s a Class C felony. If the age gap is 6 years or over, it’s a Class B1 felony, which is more serious than Class C. Indecent liberties with a child is a Class F felony. Below is a table of the felony classes with each class’ correspondening minimum presumptive prison sentence (assuming no prior criminal history).

Felony Class Penalty
A death, or life with or without parole
B1 192 months
B2 125 months
C 58 months
D 51 months
E 20 months
F 13 months
G 10 months
H 5 months
I 4 months

The actual penalty or length of prison sentence depends on the defendant’s criminal history, the existence of any aggravating or mitigating factors, and the sentencing court’s discretion. For many lower level felonies, probation is also an option.

If you are charged with statutory rape or other sexual offenses, call to get a free consultation with the attorneys at Marcilliat & Mills PLLC.

All individuals accused of crimes are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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