DOVER, Del. (AP) - The state Board of Pardons voted unanimously Thursday to reject a commutation request from a former Delaware school teacher serving 10 years in prison for having sex with a 13-year-old pupil.
The board’s decision marks the second time that Rachel Holt, 42, has lost bid to have her prison sentence cut short. The board rejected an initial commutation request from Holt in 2010.
Holt was charged with 27 counts of first-degree rape for serial encounters with a student at Claymont Elementary School over the course of one week in March 2006. She pleaded guilty in 2007 to a single count of second-degree rape and received a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence.
Holt’s attorney, John Malik, argued that the sentence Holt received is much harsher than those given other teachers who have committed similar crimes in Delaware.
“She has been punished and she’s been punished significantly,” Malik said, adding that Holt herself was a victim of physical and sexual abuse during her marriage. Malik also noted that Holt had reached out to a therapist shortly before engaging in sex with the boy because she thought she was “getting too close” to her students.
State Sen. Karen Peterson, D-Stanton, also spoke in support of Holt’s commutation request.
“I don’t have any sympathy for people who exploit children,” said Peterson, who was the prime sponsor of a 2007 law that made it easier for victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue their tormentors.
“I’m here because I believe in equal justice under the law,” Peterson explained. She argued that many male teachers and school administrators who have molested students in Delaware have received far lighter sentences than Holt, with an average sentence of 2½ years.
“Rachel Holt is not a pedophile, according to the mental health professionals who have worked with her,” Peterson said. “She is not a threat to society.”
But deputy attorney general Dennis Kelleher said Holt abused the position of trust she had as a teacher, and that the mandatory minimum sentence she received for a single count of second-degree rape was appropriate.
“She was facing a ridiculous amount of time had she gone trial,” Kelleher said.
“I don’t think the importance of her position as a school teacher can be understated,” Kelleher added in comparing Holt’s case to other sex cases heard Thursday by the board.
After lengthy deliberation by the board behind closed doors, Lt. Gov. Matt Denn, the panel chairman, said members were unanimous in deciding not to recommend that Gov. Jack Markell commute Holt’s sentence.
Denn noted court records said Holt had “groomed” her victim beforehand, had sex more than two dozen times with him, allowed another minor to watch on at least one occasion, and attempted to suggest that the boy was partly to blame for what happened.
Denn also noted the relatively small amount of time, likely measured in months, that might be knocked off Holt’s remaining prison term were the board to recommend commutation, “compared to the message we are concerned that would send.”
With continued accrual of good time credit, Holt is expected to be released from prison sometime around mid-2015. Had she received a commutation, she probably would have been released about a year earlier.
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