A former Highlands Ranch teacher charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a student took a deal and pleaded guilty last week to child sex exploitation, according to court records.
Tera Johnson-Swartz pleaded guilty during a Wednesday hearing in Douglas County District Court to one count of sexually exploiting a child, a felony, according to court records obtained by The Denver Post.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped five other felony charges from her case, including second-degree kidnapping, sexual assault with a 10-year age difference, unlawful electronic sexual communication and two counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust–pattern of abuse, according to court records. The deal also dismissed one misdemeanor charge of contributing to the deliquency of a minor.
Johnson-Swartz, a 45-year-old Castle Rock woman who taught at STEM School Highlands Ranch, was accused of kissing and initiating sex with a male student younger than 18 years old. She allegedly even bought him cigarettes and smoked marijuana with him.
She was one of four finalists for "2025 Teacher of the Year" according to a social media post by the Colorado Dept. of Education. Her employment at the school was terminated on Feb. 14, 2025, following her arrest.
The woman's relationship with the student was discovered when the student's parents found deleted text chains with the former teacher, according to a grand jury indictment. The chains included roughly 2,400 text messages, many containing sexually explicit content.
According to the arrest affidavit, Johnson-Swartz picked up a boy in her car and left school grounds. She returned him to the school minutes later, but since she did not have permission from the teen's parents to leave the school it resulted in her being charged with felony kidnapping.
Johnson-Swartz is scheduled to appear in court for a sentencing hearing on March 30.
