Oklahoma school district pays $125,000 to family after teacher had sex with student

FILE: Jennifer Caswell had sex with a 15-year-old student (Harmon County Sheriff's Office)

An Oklahoma school district settled a lawsuit over a 31-year-old English teacher who had sex with an eighth-grade student.

The student’s family was paid $125,000, The Daily Mail reported.

The Oklahoman reported in June that Jennifer Caswell pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and other charges in Harmon County District Court. Sentencing was set for Aug. 31.

The boy's father said in a federal lawsuit that local school officials let Caswell resign and keep her teaching credentials. He was seeking $1 million for pain, suffering and his son's mental and emotional anguish. The district denies wrongdoing.

The father alleged at least two people saw Caswell engaged in sexual acts with his son in her classroom, when she taught under the name Jennifer Sexton.

After she resigned in April 2014, she had sex with the boy in a vehicle, her house and the boy's father's house, according to prosecutors. After the woman followed him to Mississippi, where he had been sent to stay with his mother, the boy began cooperating with authorities.

The boy was 15 at the time of the crimes. The paper reported that Caswell was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

"The district's overall position is that they acted appropriately once they were aware of an issue," lawyer Andy Fugitt told the newspaper.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.