Kirkland received a 14-year suspended sentence and probation for first-degree statutory sodomy and first-degree statutory rape, charges filed on July 23, 2008, for molesting a boy while he was between 8 and 10 years old. She received a seven-year sentence, with no probation, for second-degree statutory sodomy, a charge filed on Feb. 3, 2009, for her relationship with a 16-year-old boy. A prosecutor estimates Kirkland likely will serve three to five years of that sentence before being paroled. If she'd gone to prison for the statutory sodomy/statutory rape case, Kirkland would have had to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence.

The guilty pleas were part of an agreement with prosecutors that called for a range of 10-14 years for the statutory sodomy/statutory rape case, which was discovered after the first case was filed, and up to seven years for the first statutory sodomy case. The sentences were to run concurrently to one another and prosecutors opposed probation in both cases. In Missouri, the range of punishment for statutory sodomy and rape cases is determined by the ages of the victims, with longer sentences mandated for crimes against younger victims.

Greene County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jill Patterson said both cases were long-term abusive situations. Kirkland met the young boy in kindergarten and a childcare center, and developed a close relationship with his family. That progressed to her and the boy doing special things together. Kirkland also was a close friend of the older boy's family, and he attended the private Christian school where she taught, although the crimes did not occur at school.

Circuit Judge Calvin Holden heard victim impact statements and extensive reports from a Missouri Probation and Parole officer about the cases. He also heard Kirkland apolotgize for her crimes.

The prison sentence and the probation will be served concurrently but Patterson filed a motion to make the probation longer so she can make sure Kirkland attends a community-based sexual offender program after she is paroled from prison. Kirkland will also have to register with her local sheriff as a sexual offender.