By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel

A former middle school teacher pleaded guilty Thursday to luring a 14-year-old student into a months-long sexual tryst, but she won't be going to jail.

In a plea deal brokered between defense attorney Gregory P. Isaacs and Knox County Assistant District Attorney General Rachel Russell, Serena Milan, 28, received a probationary sentence.

Milan will serve 10 years probation on six felony counts of sexual battery by an authority figure and 22 felony counts of exploitation of a minor.

She also must register as a sex offender and remain on the registry for 20 years.

Her victim's mother, who is suing Milan, Knox County Schools and a former coach at the school, approved the deal, according to statements made in Knox County Criminal Court on Thursday.

Milan faced a 29-count indictment filed as the result of an investigation by Knoxville Police Department Investigator Patty Tipton after the boy's mother learned of the relationship, which spanned five months in 2015. The charges included six counts of statutory rape by an authority figure for specific sex acts, as well as several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor related to sexting between the pair.

Milan was working as an English "intervention" instructor at Northwest Middle School when in February 2015 she began coaxing the boy with sexual advances, including graphic text messages and photographs. Court records state the two had sex on at least a half-dozen occasions, including in Milan's classroom.

On at least one occasion she met up with the boy at West Town Mall and then had sex with him in her car, according to the lawsuit attorney Eddie Daniel filed in Knox County Circuit Court last week on behalf of the boy's mother.

The lawsuit alleges former Northwest Middle coach Sean Green was a friend of Milan's and brought the boy to her classroom, knowing Milan planned to have sex with him. Green is also accused in the lawsuit of helping Milan hide the relationship and of pressuring the boy's mother to keep quiet after she discovered her son was being victimized. Green is not charged criminally.

Knox County Schools is accused in the lawsuit of doing little to stop or prevent the victimization of students by teachers and school staff. The lawsuit claims repeated instances of sexual encounters between teachers and students in the past few years in which the school system was slow to respond.

The lawsuit seeks more than $2 million from the school system, Milan and Green.

Thursday's plea deal not only spares Milan a jail term as long as she stays out of trouble but also shields the boy from testifying in a public courtroom, a factor cited in court for the agreement.

It's never been clear when the school system learned of the allegations against Milan. She abruptly resigned in July — soon after the boy's mother discovered the relationship — but said in her resignation letter she could not discuss her reasons for quitting. Milan was indicted in November.