A Florida judge sentenced a former middle school teacher to 36 months in prison for having sex with a 14-year-old student — after the boy’s mother testified that he is a shell of his old self and is constantly teased by his classmates over the ordeal.

Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano sentenced Stephanie Peterson, 27, at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand on Wednesday after attorneys for the former teacher at New Smyrna Beach Middle School argued in a motion that she should serve less than the five- to 10-year prison sentence as part of her plea agreement because the boy was a “willing participant” in the sexual assaults.

Zambrano — who addressed Peterson in court prior to her sentencing as an “incredibly brilliant person” — agreed with her attorneys who called for a downward departure from the recommended prison sentence. He also praised Peterson for admitting her guilt, a move that “came as a shock” to him back in October.

But before he handed down Peterson’s sentence, the victim’s mother testified that her son — who is now in ninth grade — has become withdrawn and is largely unrecognizable since the sexual assaults that occurred in Peterson’s car, as well as encounters in her home and in a barn behind his house between November 2017 and last January.

“He is no longer the funny, vibrant, light-hearted child we knew,” she testified. “He is now untrustworthy of new people and even old friends. He’s angry most days … He doesn’t understand his new personality but can’t find his old self either.”

She said the teen has since struggled to make friends and is often teased in school due to the assaults — with one student calling him a “teacher f–ker” and another asking him “how his teacher tasted.”

“And it’s absolutely heartbreaking,” the teen’s mother said of the ongoing abuse. “What she did to him has completely changed his life.”

The mother insisted Zambrano sentence Peterson to the maximum 10 years in prison.

“My child is gone,” she said. “His innocence was stolen at 14 years old.”

Zambrano, during the sentencing, acknowledged that Peterson tried to treat her bipolar disorder with rampant use of marijuana and alcohol, and acknowledged that the victim would be impacted for the rest of his life.

“You have to pay for this mistake,” Zambrano told Peterson. “It’s only right.”

Peterson, for her part, also took the stand and said she regrets her decisions daily.

“Every day of my life, I wake up and ask myself, ‘What have you done?’” she testified, adding that she didn’t have enough words to adequately express her remorse.

Peterson was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 25, leading to marital problems the following year, ultimately leading to her divorce. She was once a role model for students, but is now ashamed and even hates herself due to her behavior, she said.

She also spoke about how she contemplated suicide since her arrest, a point the judge later told her would not solve her problems.

“Taking your own life will not make this go away,” Zambrano said. “The only thing you can do is to try to educate people on your own illness.”

Zambrano sentenced Peterson to three years in prison, to be followed by two years of community control and five years’ probation as a sex offender for her guilty plea to one count of lewd and lascivious battery sex act with a child, a second-degree felony. She received time served for a charge of electronic transmission of material harmful to minors, to which she also pleaded guilty.

Zambrano said Peterson’s need for specialized treatment for a mental disorder unrelated to substance abuse was the basis for the lesser sentence. He will file a written statement in connection with the downward departure, he said.

“If I could say one thing to the victim, I would say I’m sorry,” she continued. “I owe it to the victim to do the right thing from here on out … For the rest of my life, I will be closely monitored for the actions I committed, and rightfully so.”