Ex-Tacoma teacher sentenced to 6 months for sexually abusing student, 12

A former sixth-grade math and science teacher at Tacoma's Gray Middle School was sentenced to six months confinement Tuesday for sexually abusing a 12-year-old student in 2007.

Keshia Shaw will receive credit for the four months she served in the Pierce County Jail and could serve the remaining two months at home with a monitoring device if the Department of Corrections approves the judge's sentence.

Judge John McCarthy agreed to let Shaw go home with the monitoring device because of her deteriorating health. Her attorney says she has multiple sclerosis and needs treatment she can't get in jail.

Shaw pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape, and in exchange the state recommended a six-month sentence.

Judge McCarthy reluctantly handed down the six-month sentence because Shaw showed signs of shifting the responsibility of abuse to her victim, McCarthy said as he read through court documents.

Tuesday in court, however, Shaw said she takes full responsibility for her actions. She also talked about how multiple sclerosis is harming her body.



"I'm concerned that prolonged stay here with my condition will turn me into a 200-pound 3-year-old," said Shaw said.

The sex abuse began in 2007 when Shaw made contact with her 12-year-old victim as he was re-taking a test after school. The abuse continued for a little more than a year and a half.

The victim reported the incidents in to his mother and a family friend in May 2012 after he went to church and heard a sermon discussing molestation. The friend of the family then contacted Child Protective Services.

Shaw could go home Tuesday if the Department of Corrections approves the sentence. She'll receive sex abuse treatment for at least five years.