A 2024 finalist for Colorado Teacher of the Year is now facing more than a decade behind bars after she couldn’t stay away from a 16-year-old student she had a sexual relationship with.

Tera Johnson-Swartz, 45, was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and one count of felony cybercrime in connection to the illicit relationship, which also cost her job, according to a March 19 statement from the 23rd Judicial District provided to Oxygen.com.

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According to prosecutors, the relationship began after the STEM Highlands Ranch teacher began texting and sending music to the student. By January of 2025, prosecutors said Johnson-Swartz—who had been named one of seven finalists for Colorado Teacher of the Year five months earlier—convinced the 16-year-old to meet up with her outside of school, buying him cigarettes and sexually assaulting him.

The relationship was discovered that same month by therapists and reported to Douglas County Human Services, according to an affidavit obtained by Oxygen.com.

She was suspended from the school and later banned from the campus, yet the student was spotted on security cameras at the school getting into a vehicle like Johnson-Swartz’s in February, per the affidavit.

Using that evidence—and an alleged confession from the student admitting to meeting up with his former teacher and driving to a nearby neighborhood—Johnson-Swartz was indicted by a grand jury on charges of felony kidnapping for taking the student off school property without authorization, as well as sexual assault of a child in a position of trust, unlawful electronic communication, sexual assault and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, per the court records.

The victim also allegedly confirmed that the pair had kissed and “made out,” according to the affidavit, telling investigators that she’d also let him smoke her marijuana vape.

She was arrested in February of 2025 by detectives with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit on the kidnapping charge and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to a statement from the department.

Still, Johnson-Swartz, who was out on bond, wasn’t able to stay away from the student and saw him twice at a Goose concert event in June 2025, approaching him on the second night of the event after his friends had walked away.

The victim told investigators he asked her to go away, later describing the encounters to an investigator as “really weird.”

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According to the affidavit, the victim told detectives that she began to text and call him again after the concert.

In one exchange, per the court records, the teen told investigators she told him, “Just say you don’t love me.” In another, he described her as being “sad” after he confirmed that he didn’t love her.

Johnson-Swartz was arrested a second time on July 3 outside the Wingstop where she was now working, according to the affidavit, and was held without bond. Prosecutors said an additional charge including sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust was later added to her case.

While speaking to the investigators about her continued pursuits, the student described the 45-year-old as an “unstable woman.”

"She threw away her entire life for me,” he said, according to the affidavit. “And I'm not entirely surprised by the fact that she then would have trouble letting go because she did throw her life for me. But no, I never told her I loved her, and she never said that to me."

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He went on to express some disbelief at her actions.

“I don't know what would've encouraged her to call me, but she is pretty stupid, I'm not gonna lie,” he said, according to the court records. “Already ruined her life and she keeps just making it worse."

Johnson-Swartz agreed to plead guilty in January as part of a deal that would drop some of the charges against her, according to The Denver Post.

After her sentence, District Attorney George Brauchler said her actions were not representative of the teachers within Douglas County, who he called “some of the finest teachers in Colorado.” Yet he described Johnson-Swartz’s case as a cautionary tale.

“This warning is coming from a DA and a parent: If a teacher in our community exploits their position of trust with our kids for their own lascivious desires, we will seek to change their life forever,” he said. “We will work to make them a convicted felon, and we will try to take away their freedom. Here, this predator stated at her sentencing that this conduct will not define who she is. I disagree. She is now a convicted sex offender and will live with that label for decades.”