Ex-Forest Ridge teacher gets 20 months in sex case

A former teacher at Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bellevue was sentenced to nearly two years in prison Friday for having sex with one of his 16-year-old students last year.

King County Superior Court Judge Gregory Canova told Deene Juncker that the 20-month term, the maximum within state guidelines, was "absolutely appropriate" for the "emotional scars" he left with the victim and the pain he caused her family and the school.

Juncker, whose 48th birthday was also Friday, pleaded guilty in King County Superior Court last month to two counts of first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor.

Juncker was arrested in November after the girl's mother discovered the covert relationship.

Juncker and the girl started seeing each other secretly in the summer and began having sex in a park. By the fall, they had stayed at a Bellevue hotel together.

The girl's mother became suspicious of her daughter's behavior and discovered Juncker hanging around the neighborhood, court documents say. The mother then found e-mail and online chat sessions in which Juncker and the girl expressed their love for each other and recounted their hotel stay.

Juncker, who is married and had no criminal record, resigned from the private school in October and went to work in a comic-book store.

Dozens of people -- supporters of both Juncker and the girl -- crowded into Canova's courtroom in Seattle on Friday. The girl, now 17, sat quietly in the front row and did not address the judge. Juncker appeared to avoid looking in her direction.

Juncker faced between 15 and 20 months in prison. Deputy Prosecutor Christy Keating argued for the maximum sentence, saying this wasn't the first "highly inappropriate relationship" Juncker had pursued with girls at Forest Ridge, though it was the only sexual one. She also said his apologies have come off as insincere.

His behavior "was not a momentary lapse in judgment," Keating said. "It was not an isolated incident."

Juncker's lawyer, David Allen of Seattle, asked for a 15-month term, saying Juncker lost his career and humiliated himself and his family.

"He's told the court and the world that he crossed a line that shouldn't be crossed," Allen said.

Juncker, who stood politely in red jail scrubs, said, "I will never do this again. I will never lose the lessons I've learned."

But Canova said he wasn't convinced.

"You made choices without considering the consequences," the judge said.

After prison, Juncker will have to register as a sex offender and is forbidden from contacting the girl, her family or anyone at Forest Ridge.

Ian Ith: 206-464-2109 or iith@seattletimes.com