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This story was corrected on May 1, 2009

A former Montgomery County Public Schools teacher recently pleaded guilty to a sexual offense involving a 16-year-old male student at a Rockville school for emotionally disturbed children.

The woman, Lindsey H. Froehlich, 27, of the 13100 block of Shadyside Lane in Germantown, was sentenced to three years probation including six months in a pre-release center on April 16. Froehlich was a teacher at the John L. Gildner Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents, or RICA, where the offense occurred.

Froehlich was not required to register on a national or state registry for sexual offenders, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Eric M. Johnson ruled during the sentencing hearing. Johnson also gave Froehlich probation before judgment, meaning the case would be expunged from Froehlich's record if she does not violate the terms of her probation.

"The sex offense registry is a very, very good tool … when it's appropriate to use it," Johnson said. He said Froehlich is not a predator or a threat. Giving Froehlich probation before judgment was "an extraordinary measure," Johnson said, calling the felony a serious offense and banning Froehlich from teaching children who are of middle school age or younger, contact with the victim and contact with students at RICA.

A recent law allows judges to issue a prison sentence and probation before judgment simultaneously, said Johnson. He used the legal procedure last year to issue probation before judgment to a Montgomery County Public Schools employee who had embezzled more than $100,000 from her Gaithersburg homeowners' association. In that case, he also said he wanted to see the convicted woman go back to work.

Police arrested Froehlich on May 19 for inappropriate sexual contact with a 16-year-old resident student, according to a May 22 police statement. Froehlich was jailed on $250,000 bond and put on administrative leave by the school system. She no longer works for MCPS.

Court records showed police charged Froehlich with two counts of fourth-degree sexual offense and second-degree assault.

On Sept. 11, a grand jury indicted Froehlich on sexual abuse of a minor and third-degree sexual offense. Froehlich pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor on Feb. 27. Johnson sentenced her on April 16.

"It was wrong for me to be anything other than a teacher for him," she said during the sentencing hearing. "I have spent every single day worrying about how my actions may have affected him."

Prosecutors said that Froehlich, a third-year teacher at RICA, masturbated the 16-year-old through his clothing and that he sexually touched her as they sat behind a desk in a classroom during school hours. She was the teenager's computer applications software teacher.

Assistant State's Attorney Keith Jacobson said that Froehlich had a 3�-month friendship with the teenager that "raised eyebrows" as she walked him across campus to his dormitory.

He said the teen had sent Froehlich a sexually explicit and suggestive e-mail prior to the May 19 incident.

"This isn't some young boy's fantasy," said Jacobson, who added that the teenager's psychologist at RICA had described the boy as emotionally disturbed. Froehlich said that her friendship with the teen had lasted closer to six weeks.

Froehlich's attorney, Barry Helfand of Rockville, said that Froehlich "put her hand on [the student's] thigh and maybe touched the penis area." He called the contact a one-time instance. He suggested that Froehlich had been set up and pointed to a statement from the student apologizing and saying he hoped "we could move on."