GREEN RIVER - The former choir teacher at Star Valley High School will serve six months in jail after pleading no contest to two counts of engaging in sexual contact with a minor student, according to Lincoln County authorities.

Jamie Nicole Hale of Star Valley accepted a plea agreement and was sentenced to a year in jail, with six months suspended, Thursday afternoon by District Judge Dennis Sanderson, Lincoln County Attorney Eric Phillips said.

Hale, who resigned her teaching position with Lincoln County School District 2 earlier this year, entered no contest pleas to one misdemeanor count of sexual battery and one felony count of sexual abuse of a minor in the fourth degree.

Phillips said a no contest plea means the defendant does not contend the charge.

He said while not technically a guilty plea, it has the same immediate effect as a guilty plea and is often offered as part of a plea agreement.

"I was actually happy with the sentencing," Phillips said in a phone interview. "I'm pretty satisfied, and I think it's just. Cases like these are absolutely devastating."

Hale was charged May 19 with having sexual contact with a 17-year-old boy at various times during January and February. She faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the charges.

Hale allegedly engaged in "sexual intrusion" with the youth in January and allegedly engaged in sexual contact with the teenager during February, according to court documents.

Prosecutors noted the victim was at least four years younger than the defendant and that Hale occupied a position of authority in relation to the victim.

Phillips said Hale was ordered to report to the Lincoln County Jail on July 1 to begin serving her sentence.

The court also placed Hale on three years' supervised probation and ordered her to undergo a sex offender evaluation.

"The families of those involved suffer terribly, as does the school where the defendant taught … Nobody comes out a winner," Phillips said.

"It is my hope that school teachers in Wyoming will learn from this case and understand that there are serious legal consequences whenever a teacher chooses to participate in an inappropriate relationship with a student," he added.

Contact southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino at 307-875-5359 or gearino@tribcsp.com.