Five years after being sentenced to prison, former Goodyear teacher Brittany Zamora’s criminal case continues to capture public attention.
Once a star teacher, then-27-year-old Zamora taught elementary school and fell from grace when she was caught sending illicit text messages to a 13-year-old male student over Instagram and other messaging platforms, months after a “relationship” began in 2018.
When the boy’s mom found the messages, Zamora was arrested on charges on molestation and sexual exploitation.
As part of plea deal, Zamora later pleaded guilty to sexual conduct with a minor, attempted molestation and public sexual indecency, according to court records. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2019, the lowest possible sentence for the charges.
A new documentary released Monday highlights body camera footage from the days leading up to her arrest, detailing interviews from parents, witnesses, school administrators and Zamora herself.
Here’s what we know.
What happened in Zamora’s case?
Brittany Zamora, a now 33-year-old former teacher from Goodyear, was arrested in March 2018 on suspicion of having a sexual relationship with her sixth-grade student at Las Brisas Academy.
Police reports recounted how she, then 27, had sex with her student multiple times in her classroom and car, sometimes with an 11-year-old boy posing as a “lookout” in the classroom. The two even sexually touched each other while her sixth-grade class obliviously watched a video, according to police reports.
In June 2019, Zamora pleaded guilty to sexual conduct with a minor, attempted molestation of a minor and public sexual indecency as part of a plea deal. She was previously charged with 15 felony counts, including eight counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and a slew of other charges.
What was Zamora’s sentence?
Zamora was sentenced to serve a total of 20 years in prison and is expected to be released in 2038, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections. She will be on probation for the rest of her life and must register as a sex offender.
Zamora received the lowest sentence possible for the crimes of which she was accused. The judge pointed to Zamora’s lack of criminal history and the fact that screenings indicated she was unlikely to re-offend. Her attorney also highlighted a psycho-sexual evaluation that determined Zamora had no sexual interest in children but suffered from anxiety and depression.
The maximum possible sentence was 44 years.
How did Zamora have a relationship with a student?
The relationship between Zamora and the 13-year-old started when she told her sixth-grade students to message her on an instructional app called Classcraft because she was bored one day.
Texts between Zamora and the 13-year-old quickly turned flirtatious and evolved into a sexual relationship, according to police. This relationship carried on for at least three months before a monitoring app on the student’s cellphone alerted his parents to illicit texts between the two.
The app — Sentry Parental Control — alerted the mom that the word “baby” was repeatedly coming up in a direct message conversation on Instagram. She quickly realized the Instagram account belonged to Zamora.
The boy admitted to his parents that it was his teacher and that they had sex.
In a police interview, the boy told police that Zamora sent a naked picture of herself and another of herself wearing lingerie. He told police he also sent her pictures of himself naked.
Zamora was arrested in March 2018 after the parents found the text messages.
Months before her arrest, classmates noticed the strange relationship between their teacher and the boy. They thought they were too close, a police report noted, and rumors circulated that they were dating and that he had gotten her pregnant.
Some students claimed that Zamora played favorites, and another student said Zamora grew too close with students, mentioning her attendance of out-of-school activities. Zamora frequently communicated with students outside of school through an Instagram account and Classcraft.
Was anyone else involved?
Alongside molesting the 13-year-old boy, police interviews showed that Zamora could have been grooming another student.
The mother of a male friend of the 13-year-old told police Zamora promised to send her son naked pictures over the summer. During class, Zamora asked the friend whether he was circumcised, the report said. She showed him pictures of male genitalia on her phone when he said he didn’t understand the question.
A lawsuit filed by the parents of the 13-year-old alleged that Zamora’s husband and the Liberty Elementary School District knew about the sexual misconduct at least a month before the parents reported the abuse.
The parent’s lawsuit claims that three students in Zamora’s class reported inappropriate behavior to Las Brisas Academy Principal Timothy Dickey in written statements in early February 2018. Dickey later interviewed the students and lectured them on the dangers of rumors without referring the matter to police or alerting the boy’s parents, according to the civil lawsuit.
Zamora reassured Dickey that it was the victim who gravitated toward her, the report said. Zamora told Dickey he could check Classcraft to view the communications, but he never did.
How does Zamora’s husband fit into this?
The parent’s lawsuit claims that Zamora’s husband, Daniel Zamora, knew about the relationship between his wife and the boy.
On the night before her arrest, Zamora called the family to settle the matter and put her husband on the phone.
Daniel Zamora didn’t appear to know that the relationship went beyond a few text messages. He tried to defend his wife, saying she was a good teacher who would do anything to help her students, and pleaded with the boy’s father not to call the cops.
According to police reports, Daniel Zamora coached his wife during later calls with the parents, including on the day of her arrest. He encouraged her to cry, apologize and do whatever she could to seem helpless.
“Don’t admit to any relationship,” Daniel Zamora texted his wife. “Because we both know there isn’t one and nothing happened. Just stupid fantasy text that went too far.”
The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount in 2019.
Who is Brittany Zamora?
Zamora graduated from Arizona State University and took a teaching job at Littleton Elementary School in Avondale. She was awarded “Teacher of the Year” in 2016.
She was then recruited to teach at Las Brisas Academy by the principal, Dickey. He previously served as the assistant principal at Littleton Elementary.
Zamora surrendered her state teaching certificate in December 2018.
Zamora is currently over six years into her 20-year sentence. She is scheduled to be released in 2038.
During her time in prison, she divorced her husband and completed several work assignments.
The newly-released documentary can be seen via YouTube.
Republic public safety reporter Bree Burkitt contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Here’s what to know about Brittany Zamora, five years later
