BALTIMORE — A former Baltimore County middle school teacher was sentenced Friday to nine years with all but three years suspended after pleading guilty in August to nine fourth-degree sex offense charges involving her student.

Sydnie Haywood, 34, was indicted last year in Baltimore County and Baltimore City after she was accused of having a yearslong relationship with a then-14 and 15-year-old student, 13 years her junior, at Woodlawn Middle School.

Friday, Baltimore County Circuit Judge Dennis Robinson Jr. handed down the active three-year sentence. He gave Haywood credit for the more than a year she’s served since her arrest.

“In an ideal world, kids feel safest at home,” Robinson said before handing down the sentence. “School should be a close second.”

Haywood has already been sentenced for her case in Baltimore City. In March, a Baltimore City Circuit judge handed Haywood a nine-month and 12-day sentence after she pleaded guilty to one fourth-degree sex offense charge.

During Haywood’s sentencing in the county on Friday, Robinson also ordered that Haywood receive five years of supervision, register as a Tier One sex offender, have no contact with the victim or the victim’s immediate family, and have no unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18.

Robinson said the last condition did not apply to Haywood’s two children.

According to charging documents, Haywood, who taught Spanish at the Gwynn Oak school between August 2018 and June 2020, began messaging the student on social media in March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Investigators said the two had their first sexual encounter months later when summer break began, and Haywood was no longer the student’s teacher.

Charging documents state the pair began meeting for sex at the teacher’s Baltimore home, as well as in her car.

Before she was handed down the sentence, Haywood thanked God, the judge, her attorney and her family. She called the situation “challenging.”

“This is not a reflection of my character and my purpose,” she said.

Haywood asked for grace and said she takes full accountability for her actions.

A yearslong relationship

During the sentencing hearing, Baltimore County Assistant State’s Attorney Kayla York said Haywood’s actions weren’t a “lapse of judgment,” but something that went on for several years. She said that the two exchanged explicit photos, engaged in threesomes and went on overnight trips to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

York said the victim in this case has struggled to understand that what Haywood did to them isn’t their fault. Adults trusted with children have the responsibility to protect them, York said, not hurt them.

York recommended that Haywood be sentenced to nine years with the entire sentence suspended except for the time she’s already served.

The victim wasn’t able to testify, York said, which has made sentencing more complicated. But the state’s recommendation doesn’t make Haywood’s conduct any less serious, York said.

Warren Brown, Haywood’s attorney, said his client has expressed remorse and taken accountability. He said that while the nature of the offenses is “disgusting” and in violation of the law, his client and the student had an emotional relationship, not just a sexual one.

Brown said Haywood went to Hampton University and Johns Hopkins University. When Robinson pointed out that those facts could hurt Haywood’s case because it suggests she had a lot of opportunities, Brown said he didn’t know if it would help or hurt. But, he said, it suggests she’s held up responsibilities before.

Brown asked that Haywood be given probation before judgment. He also asked that his client not be required to register as a sex offender in the county, since she is already registered in the city.

After hearing from attorneys and Haywood, Robinson said that Haywood’s conduct violated the trust between a student and teacher, as well as the trust between a parent and a school. He said that Haywood needs to be punished for her conduct.

Following the hearing, Brown said he would have liked to see his client walk out of the courtroom without handcuffs. But in these kinds of cases, he said, it’s less about the prison sentence and more about what comes after that.

He said that as a registered sex offender, his client won’t be able to participate at her children’s school events.

“It’s a scarlet letter,” Brown said.

York declined to comment following the sentencing hearing.

Baltimore County Public Schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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