EX-TEXAS TEACHER GETS PROBATION FOR SEX WITH TWO TEEN BOYS
Shelby Dawn Lashombe, 25, a former teacher and coach at Valley Mills High School in Texas, was placed on six years of deferred probation on September 25, 2026, after pleading guilty to two counts of improper relationship between educator and student involving two 16-year-old boys. Prosecutors dropped two counts of sexual assault of a child in exchange for the pleas, and if she completes her probation she will not end up with a felony conviction.
Judge Thomas West of the 19th State District Court approved the plea agreement with the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office, KWTX reported. Along with the six years of probation, Lashombe was fined $1,000, ordered to spend four weekends in jail and told to complete 60 days on a county prisoner work detail, which she will serve while not in custody.
The two charges she admitted to are second-degree felonies that carry up to 20 years in prison. West told Lashombe and her attorney, Cody Cleveland, that without the testimony of one boy’s father and of Lashombe’s therapist, he would have sent her to jail for much longer as a condition of probation.
The boys attended West High School and Axtell High School, and officials said neither was Lashombe’s student. She had previously taught at West and Midway schools and knew the boys from her time at West, according to Cleveland.
According to arrest documents, the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office got a tip that Lashombe had been seen kissing a 16-year-old boy and that the two had had sex. The boy told a detective it happened more than once and that she knew he was under the age of consent. Lashombe told the detective they had been seeing each other for six months, and she also admitted to having sex with another boy younger than 17, the documents alleged.
Both Texas Scorecard and People report she was arrested in September 2025. She resigned from Valley Mills High School when the allegations surfaced. Texas Scorecard reported she surrendered her teaching certification in January 2026 and was placed on the state Do Not Hire Registry, which makes her ineligible for public-school jobs. She now works at a furniture retailer in Waco, KWTX reported.
About 50 people came to the sentencing hearing to support her, including the father of one of the boys. At one point Cleveland told the judge the courtroom was full of her supporters, and West asked, “everybody?” When Cleveland asked for a show of hands, everyone raised one except the mother of one of the boys and a man and woman sitting with her.
That boy’s parents are divorced and have fought a custody battle over their children, and they gave sharply different accounts of how the events affected their son. His father said the teen is in counseling but was not traumatized, is earning good grades, is doing well on the football team and has been accepted to several universities. He said his son is “thriving” and does not feel victimized. He added that he does not consider Lashombe a sexual predator and did not want her jailed or made a convicted felon.
Lashombe’s counselor, Gabrielle White, testified that she diagnosed Lashombe with adjustment disorders, anxiety and depression, and that Lashombe developed PTSD symptoms during the eight hours she spent in jail after her arrest. White said she has seen “incredible growth” over the year she has treated her. She told the court Lashombe has matured and now has the tools to avoid making such reckless decisions, and that Lashombe would keep up weekly counseling if given deferred probation.
West had already adjourned the hearing, and most of the crowd had left, when the boy’s mother approached Assistant District Attorney Will Hix to remind him she had prepared a statement for the judge. West reconvened the hearing.
She told the court her son is no longer the person he was before. She said he now suffers from depression and anxiety and has withdrawn from her and other family members. She said he wanted to change schools, stopped going to Catholic Mass and skipped the high school prom. She said Lashombe betrayed the trust placed in her as an educator and stole her son’s innocence through what she called her “calculated and predatory actions.”
Hix said cases like this are never about a charge or a sentence, but about people and the lasting impact of the crime. He said he believes justice was served by the plea agreement.
“This was a unique case, and we carefully considered every fact, every circumstance and every possible outcome in consultation with law enforcement,” Hix said. “Most importantly, we listened to the victim and the victim’s family, respected their wishes and worked to achieve the outcome they believed was right for them.”
Cleveland argued that Lashombe never held authority over the boys. “She had no control over them. She had no power as a teacher over them,” he said, adding that the boys reached out to her through social media and “one thing led to another.”
In deferred probation cases there is no final judgment of guilt, and a defendant can avoid a felony conviction by complying with the terms of probation. Cleveland said that by law Lashombe does not have to register as a sex offender, and Texas Scorecard reported the offense does not require registration.
“She is ready to move on with her life,” Cleveland said after the hearing.
