HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A former high school Spanish teacher from Huntington was sentenced to federal prison for traveling across state lines to have sex with one of her students and selling Adderall, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Amy Adkins, 30, was sentenced to five years in prison for travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and distribution of Adderall. Adkins also was ordered to complete 20 years of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.
“Adkins abused her position of authority as a teacher to betray the trust of this student and his family,” said United States Attorney Mike Stuart. “Parents expect their kids to be safe from predatory behavior at school, not preyed upon.”
Adkins previously admitted that while she was a Spanish teacher at Fairland High School in Proctorville, Ohio during the 2017 to 2018 academic year, she communicated frequently with one of her young male students on social media. This student was under 16 years old at the time. On April 7, 2018, Adkins admitted that she drove from her home in Huntington to Proctorville, where she picked up her underage student and brought him back to Huntington with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Ultimately, Adkins had sex with the victim that day at her home in Huntington.
In addition to traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, Adkins admitted that from September 2017 to May 2018 she frequently sold a portion of her Adderall prescription to her friends and acquaintances. Specifically, Adkins admitted that she sold one close friend five pills of Adderall on March 9, 2018. Adderall is a Schedule II controlled substance.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the West Virginia State Police and the Lawrence County, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services conducted the investigation.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Kristin F. Scott handled the prosecution.
The case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
