A New Jersey teacher who had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female student evaded prison time last week after her former students sent letters of support to the court ahead of her sentencing.

Ex-Fair Lawn High School graphics arts teacher Christine Knudsen was placed under lifetime parole supervision and forced to register as a sex offender, but won’t see a day behind bars if she doesn’t violate the terms of the sentencing, according to the Bergen Record.

She’s also reportedly prohibited from having any contact with her victim as part of a three-year suspended sentence tied to her illicit sexual relationship with the teenage student that lasted nearly a year in 2017.

The relationship was technically legal because the victim was the age of consent, but for the sentencing, the student was considered a child, the local newspaper reported.

“Parents send their kids to school every day, trusting they will be safe in the care of their teachers,” Bergen County Judge Nina Remson said Wednesday, according to the outlet. “And there is a very strong need to deter not only Ms. Knudsen, but all citizens from violations of the law, especially in this nature involving a breach of trust between the teacher and the student.”

Knudsen pleaded guilty in July to reckless endangerment after she was initially charged with sexual assault in 2021. She met the victim when the student joined the school’s drama club, which she advised, the Record reported.

The former educator’s lawyer in court last week blamed multiple troubles in her life, including substance abuse, for the inappropriate relationship.

“I think it’s fair to say from her comments that if she could go back in time, … she would love to do so,” attorney Michael DeMarco said, per the Record.

“And unfortunately, we know that you cannot do that. And she’s here today for something that knew was wrong and wanted to stop, but couldn’t.”

Knudsen, who taught for two decades, had a positive influence on her classes, according to letters of support from ex-students, Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Bollenbach said, though he pointed out the relationship with the victim violated the trust between educator and pupil.

He described the plea deal as “justice tempered with mercy.”

“So while this is certainly not a victimless crime – it’s far from it – I hope that Ms. Knudsen is forever deterred,” Bollenbach said, according to the Record. “I think that is in the best interest of the community as a whole and certainly to the students.”