EL CAJON – A former Helix High School business teacher and student body adviser who admitted having an inappropriate relationship with a student must serve 60 days in a work program where he spends his nights in a locked building, a Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday.

Jeff Wenham, 46, was also ordered by Judge Roderick Shelton to perform 20 days of community service and serve three years probation.

The judge also ordered Wenham to undergo counseling, which his lawyer, Earll Pott, said he has already started.

Wenham, who taught at the school for six years, pleaded guilty in September to misdemeanor charges of committing a lewd act in public and failing to report that another teacher was having sex with the same student, Deputy District Attorney John Philpott said.

The student, who is now 18, said in court she went to Wenham for advice on ending a sexual relationship she had with teacher Garry Lin Wilcox. Instead, Wenham struck up his own relationship with her that started with kissing when she was 17 and progressed to having sex when she turned 18.

Wilcox, 44, was sentenced to a year in jail and placed on probation for three years in August for having sex with the girl.

“I sought you out because I needed help and you took advantage of me,” she told Wenham in court. “All I wanted was your attention and your time. All I wanted was to talk to you.”

Wenham apologized for his actions, saying: “I certainly never intended to hurt anybody.”

The former teacher said he didn't set out to have sex with the student.

“This was an emotional relationship that developed,” he said.

Since December 2006, four former Helix High School teachers have beencharged with having sex with students. In April, a former West Hills HighSchool teacher was sentenced to 180 days in jail for having sex with astudent.

Wenham's actions were especially serious because he knew when he became involved with the student that other teachers had been caught and punished, Philpott said in court.

Pott argued his client shouldn't serve time in a work furlough program because he has no prior record and other teachers convicted of similar crimes went farther and had sex with students when they were under 18.

The prosecutor said strong punishment was needed to deter other teachers.

“We need teachers to say, 'you know, it's just not worth it,'” Philpott said.

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