HOUSTON, Texas – A Texas teacher who had sex almost daily with a 13-year-old student and became pregnant with his child was sentenced to a decade in prison on Friday.

Former Stovall Middle School teacher Alexandria Vera, 24, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child last year as part of a plea agreement that capped her potential sentence at 30 years to be determined by a judge.

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On Friday, state district Judge Michael McSpadden said he sentenced Vera to 10 years in prison to send a message to the community that the court won’t tolerate teachers who sexually abuse their students, the Houston Chronicle reports.

“We want our educators to teach our students,” McSpadden said. “We want them to keep their hands off the students.”

Vera, mother to a 6-year-old girl, told police she had sex almost daily with a 13-year-old Stovall student after meeting the boy during a summer school session in 2016. The boy’s family was aware of and supportive of the relationship, and were reportedly excited when she became pregnant with the student’s child.

Vera later aborted the pregnancy when Child Protective Services launched an investigation into the relationship, KFOR reports.

Prosecutors alleged Vera’s misconduct extended to other students, and said she allowed two eighth graders to have sex in her home.

Neighbors told KHOU Vera allowed students to consume alcohol at her home, as well.

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The student and his mother wrote letters of support for Vera that were included in her sentencing report and placed some of the blame for the relationship on the eighth-grader.

“In court, prosecutors outlined a string of deceptions from Vera, including moving the child and his father into her home and pretending to the outside world to date the father,” according to the Chronicle.

Vera’s attorney Ricardo Rodriguez pointed to the teacher’s history of living in domestic violence situations and testimony from mental health professional Karen Lawson as evidence that probation was an appropriate sentence.

“I think she was driven by being in love with him,” Lawson, a sex expert, told the court. “She’s someone who has a big heart.”

Vera’s plea deal set the range for her possible sentence from probation up to 30 years in prison, and though McSpadden said he did not believe the former teacher was a pedophile or a danger to children, he issued a 10-year prison sentence with the possibility of parole after five years.

The student, who is now 14 years old, was placed in foster care through Aug. 2017, KHOU reports.

“His parents, who have three other children, have been ordered to undergo therapy and attend parent classes,” according to the news site. “They were not charged in the case.”

Prior to the plea deal, Vera was facing up to life in prison.