Salinas >> A 50-year-old Salinas mother who engaged in years of sexual activity with her daughter’s 14-year-old friend was sentenced to probation Tuesday.

Defendants facing felony child molestation charges are not typically eligible for probation, but Annette Banda was evaluated and was not considered a sexual predator by court experts, attorney Larry Biegel said. That makes her an “exception to the rule,” Biegel added.

“She is not a threat and the judge believed she would benefit more in probation than in prison,” Biegel said.

On Tuesday, Monterey County Judge Richard Curtis sentenced her to a suspended prison term of five years, eight months, which will be served on probation. She will serve a year in custody, with 288 days already served, along with counseling, treatment and registering as a sex offender for the rest of her life.

“It was an appropriate sentence,” he said.

Banda’s sentencing was postponed three times since July, and she completed a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation 90-day evaluation to determine if she would be good fit for prison.

“There’s greater success if she was given probation,” Biegel said. “Her psychologists, prison and probation officers, they all recommended probation.”

The victim’s parents, along with the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, “strongly recommended” prison and objected to any form of probation, assistant district attorney Jeannine Pacioni said.

Banda was arrested in January after her husband discovered a string of emails and texts between her and the boy. Banda’s husband notified the boy’s parent, who then contacted law enforcement. The sexual relationship with the boy lasted for more than three years, when he was still a minor. Their involvement began in 2010, with most encounters occuring in Banda’s car.

In April, she pleaded no contest to five felony charges, including one count of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

Family members and friends of both Banda and the victim were present during sentencing. The boy was not present and is attending college in another part of the country, Biegel said.

A small percentage of registered sex offenders are women, and Biegel said only three percent of those commit a second offense within seven years of being sentenced.

“Her lighter sentence is not to say there is disparity between men and women,” Biegel said. “But that statistic means that she is not likely to re-offend.”

Ana Ceballos can be reached at 726-4377.