A former Harford County Public Schools teacher charged with plotting to kill his wife so he could be with a student with whom he was having a sexual relationship pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of fourth-degree sex offense.
In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of sex abuse of a minor and soliciting someone to commit murder against Ethan Richard Estevez.
Estevez, 31, of the 2600 block of Peery Drive in Churchville, entered his plea before Harford County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Waldron.
Waldron sentenced him to one year in jail on each fourth-degree sex offense count, the maximum period of incarceration for each. Waldron then suspended 30 days of one sentence and the entire year in the second, which he ordered to run concurrent to the first.
The 11 months in jail will be served beginning Feb. 16 at the Harford County Detention Center and Estevez will be eligible for work release, according to Karen Jones, Estevez's lawyer.
He also will serve five years probation following his release and will be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years. He was ordered to pay court costs and not have contact with the victims in the case.
A teacher at the Center for Educational Opportunity in Aberdeen, Estevez had been charged in March 2014 with having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl who was not his student. In August 2014, after text messages among several people discussing the alleged potential harm to Estevez's wife were found, he was charged with solicitation of murder.
No charges were filed against the 17-year-old, prosecutors said.
"This case has been around for a long time; there was evidence on both sides that went both days," Assistant State's Attorney Chris Tabone, assigned to the Harford Child Advocacy Center, said Tuesday. "At the end of the day, given that he'll never teach again, given that he's a registered sex offender, given that he is going to jail, I think this is an appropriate sentence."
Tabone noted there were two victims in this case – the minor girl and Estevez's wife. A divorce proceeding brought by the wife is pending in Harford County Circuit Court, according to court records.
"They all wanted this and were happy with this," he said. "This is what the victims wanted."
Tabone admitted the case wasn't as strong as it appeared to be in the beginning and the prosecution was working with a witness who he said was "uncooperative."
"For what it came down to in the end, we agreed it was appropriate. Based on what the evidence would have proved at the end of the day, this was fair," he said of the plea and sentence.
Jones, Estevez's lawyer, said she likewise is satisfied with the plea agreement.
"I think the sentence the judge imposed was very reasonable given all the facts and circumstances," she said, noting that Estevez maintained his innocence throughout the case with regard to the sex abuse of a minor and murder solicitation charges. "So, the state dismissing them is very gratifying."
Estevez was terminated from his teaching position with Harford County Public Schools on June 4, 2014, an HCPS spokesperson said in August. He has since been working for an insurance agency, Jones said.
"I always wish my clients didn't have to go to jail, but that happens," she said. "I think the judge was very fair and very reasonable."