Washington Teacher Pleads Guilty to Sexual Misconduct with 16-Year-Old Student in Plea Deal

By JOHN McCARTHY / V.I. Free Press News Reporter

ST. CROIX, U.S. Virgin Islands — A former first-grade teacher in Washington state has pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor following allegations she had sex with a 16-year-old boy from a neighboring school.Mackenzie Naught, 25, faced up to five years in prison on the original charge. On Friday, she entered a guilty plea as part of a deal that limits her potential jail time to a maximum of 12 months in county jail, according to reports from the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and other local outlets.

Naught was fired from her position at St. John Elementary School after the allegations surfaced. She began teaching there shortly before the reported incident. Under the plea agreement, she will also be required to register as a sex offender for 10 years. Sentencing is scheduled for August 28, 2026, according to the New York Post.

The case came to light after Naught’s husband, an assistant track coach at the high school attended by the teen, reported her to police, Kreme.com reported. He provided screenshots from her phone that contradicted her initial denial to authorities. The boy told investigators that Naught initiated contact by messaging him secretly, describing flirtatious behavior that led to a meeting where the encounter occurred in a vehicle.

Whitman County senior deputy prosecutor Tessa Scholl defended the plea deal, stating that Naught’s admission represents an important step in accountability and spares the victim from testifying at trial, the New York Post reported.

Naught is also reported to be divorcing her husband, who exposed the alleged behavior, according to the New York Post.

This article is based on publicly available reporting from the New York Post, the Spokesman-Review, KREM, and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News. Court records and official statements form the basis of the coverage.