A teenage girl who had a sexual relationship with a former teacher has professed her love to the woman in court.
On Wednesday, during the sentencing of Jennifer Walsh, 27 — a former special education teacher — the female student insisted the relationship was consensual as she explained she was "completely in love" with the woman.
The student, who was 17 years old when she engaged in sex acts with Walsh last year, told a judge she never "felt forced or coerced" in their sexual relationship, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
"I know in my heart that I am completely in love with this woman, without a doubt," the student told Hamilton County Judge Jody Luebbers, adding their romance was "willing, on both ends".
Walsh, a former teacher at Sycamore High in Cincinnati, Ohio who was also a girls junior varsity lacrosse coach, resigned in October 2018, three days after a report was made to Montgomery Police.