And another from the "Where were these chicks when I was young" files

Castle Rock - A popular former Ponderosa High School teacher who had sex with a troubled, underage student will spend two years in prison under a plea agreement announced today in Douglas County District Court.

Nicole Barnhart, 36, a married mother of two, will be sentenced Jan. 3 on two felony charges. In addition to prison time, the former Parker-area social studies teacher will receive at least 10 years of probation and must register as a sex offender.

The plea ended a nine-month saga involving the teacher and her former 16-year-old male student, a boy with whom Barnhart admitted having sex twice. The boy's parents have since notified the Douglas County School District of their intent to sue for $2 million.

Barnhart - her attorney stroking her back as comfort during the five-minute court proceeding - listened quietly as a prosecutor read details of the agreement to Judge Paul King. Barnhart did not speak and her attorney, Iris Eytan, declined comment afterward.

"I think the message here is that if you're a teacher having sex with kids and we can prove it, then you're going to prison," Deputy District Attorney Darren Vahle said in an interview.

As part of the deal, the Highlands Ranch woman will plead guilty to sexual assault on a child and criminal attempt to commit sexual assault on a child. The former teacher initially rejected a plea deal.

"It takes people a while to come to realize what's going to happen to them," Vahle said of the agreement.

David Savitz, the boy's attorney, did not return several calls seeking comment.

Barnhart was arrested in mid-March after a county sheriff's deputy spotted the teacher and the then-10th-grader together at the end of a dirt road in Castlewood Canyon. She resigned her teaching position later that month.

Barnhart allegedly had been counseling the sophomore for suicidal thoughts and for alcohol and cocaine abuse, according to court records.

The two struck up a relationship during their talks, with Barnhart cooking the boy lobster and other meals at her house while he hung out with her young children.

Barnhart later admitted to police that she kissed the boy, and "he begged me" for about 20 minutes for sex.

On March 10 they had sex in the back seat of her van, she told police. Five days later, she said, they again had sex in the van.

"He tells me he loves me and he wants to make love to me, and everything's OK," an arrest affidavit quotes her as saying.

In an interview with police, the boy said he was "safe" when he was with her. "I'm bigger than she is," he said in the interview.

Barnhart had been a teacher in the Douglas County School District since 1995 and at Ponderosa since August 2002. She had previously taught eighth-grade social studies at Highlands Ranch's Ranch View Middle School.

But Barnhart had a questionable past at Ponderosa, even before the sexual-assault charges.

At one time she was a cheerleading coach but was removed from the job, the school's principal told investigators, because "of issues with the cheerleaders' parents." She also once was reprimanded for having cheerleaders at her house playing "Truth or Dare," the principal said.

Students reported that she was immature at times.

Earlier this year, a website that uses student evaluations to rate teachers gave Barnhart high scores for not being tough. Out of a maximum score of 5, she received an average rating of 4.3.

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My thoughts?!?!?! She also once was reprimanded for having cheerleaders at her house playing "Truth or Dare," the principal said. and she only gets a 4.3??!?!?!?! That's 5+ in my book baby!!! TWO THUMBS WAY UP!!!