Peterson

Former Lexington teacher Kelsey Peterson was sentenced Thursday to 8 to 10 years on state charges of having a sexual relationship with a 13 year old boy before fleeing to Mexico. Dawson county district judge James Doyle ordered the sentence to be served concurrently with a 6 year federal sentence imposed on her last September. In accordance with the federal sentence, she also must serve 5 years of supervised release. Her Attorney James Martin Davis of Omaha says with this sentence, Peterson will NOT serve any additional time on top of her federal sentence. Davis says Peterson will essentially do a total of 5 years in prison on her federal sentence of 72 months, considering credit she will receive. Davis says Peterson does NOT plan to appeal the sentence. Dawson County Attorney Liz Waterman said it was an adequate sentence and appropriate for the crime. During the sentencing hearing, Waterman expressed disappointment with Davis for taking several opportunities over the past 18 months to diminish the boy's status as a victim. Waterman said the case, stripped of everything else, was a crime of statutory rape.