Slideshow Dawn Giannini, 50, of Redwood City, was sentenced for sex-related crimes against a girl she was related to on Jan. 17. Photo courtesy of San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. Previous Next

A former Palo Alto teacher charged with engaging in sex acts with a minor was sentenced to six years and eight months in state prison on Jan. 17, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Judge Jeffrey Finigan handed down the sentence in concluding the case against Redwood City resident Dawn Giannini, 50, who pleaded no contest to four of the 19 felony charges she faced, according to the DA's office. Those charges included lewd acts with a child and sexual penetration with a foreign object.

During the sentencing hearing, Wagstaffe said, Judge Finigan stated that this was "one of the worst such cases he has seen," and that he considered allowing withdrawal of the no contest plea in order to set a higher sentence, but decided against it.

Giannini was arrested on Oct. 18, 2018, after a Woodside High School student alerted the school's principal of several online videos of a female classmate engaged in sexual acts with Giannini, Wagstaffe said.

The DA's office initially charged Giannini with 24 felony counts on Oct. 24, 2018. "My deputy DA dismissed the other charges as part of the negotiated plea bargain," Wagstaffe told The Almanac this week.