Former Teacher’s Aide Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Sexual Exploitation Offense
Shanice Adel Lambert Worked in Childress Independent School District
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 16, 2012 |
AMARILLO, TX—A former teacher’s aide in the Childress Independent School District (CISD), Shanice Adel Lambert, appeared this morning in federal court in Amarillo, Texas, before U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson and pleaded guilty to one count of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. Lambert was remanded into custody. She faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. A sentencing date was not set.
According to plea documents filed in the case, through her employment in the CISD as a teacher’s aide, and through this individual’s association with one of her children, Lambert met “John Doe,” a 15-year-old student at the school where she worked. In February 2012, Lambert engaged in a relationship with “John Doe” that became sexual in nature. On February 11, 2012, Lambert traveled to Altus, Oklahoma, for the purpose, among others, of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with “John Doe.” After arriving in Altus, Lambert rented a motel room and engaged in sexual acts with “John Doe.”
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Sucsy, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, is in charge of the prosecution.