Former STEM Highlands Ranch Teacher Gets 14 Years for Student Sex Abuse

Tera Johnson-Swartz, a Castle Rock woman who taught English at STEM School Highlands Ranch and was recognized as a 2025 Colorado Teacher of the Year finalist, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for sexually exploiting a student, court records show.

Johnson-Swartz pleaded guilty in Douglas County District Court to one felony count of sexually exploiting a child. The plea deal dropped five additional felony charges, including second-degree kidnapping, sexual assault with a 10-year age difference, unlawful electronic sexual communication, and two counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust with a pattern of abuse. A misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor was also dismissed. A sentencing hearing had been scheduled for March 30 in Douglas County.

Court records describe a relationship that began around Dec. 18, according to arrest records, between Johnson-Swartz and a male juvenile who had been in one of her small classes at the Highlands Ranch school. The two connected over music: the student made a playlist for her, and Johnson-Swartz put her phone number in his device to share the playlist with her. According to Johnson-Swartz's arrest affidavit, a Douglas County detective began working the case on Feb. 18, 2025, and interviewed the victim, who said he had known Johnson-Swartz for about a year and a half. The juvenile told the detective that some of their text exchanges included "more intimate discussions." At some point, Johnson-Swartz picked the student up in her car and they kissed. The juvenile acknowledged they both knew what they were doing was wrong.

The relationship came to light when the student's parents discovered deleted text chains between their child and the former teacher. Those chains contained roughly 2,400 messages, many of them sexually explicit, according to court records.

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office notified STEM School Highlands Ranch of an investigation on Jan. 21, 2025. "We immediately put her on paid-administrative leave, denying access to our campus, electronic records and students," said Matt Cartier, the school's chief innovation officer. Johnson-Swartz's employment at the school ended on Feb. 14, 2025. She had taught there since 2022.

A grand jury indicted Johnson-Swartz on the initial charges. After her arrest, she was held at the Douglas County Detention Facility. In July 2025, prosecutors added new charges after Johnson-Swartz allegedly violated a protection order by contacting the student; those charges included tampering with a witness and three counts of violation of a protection order, the Douglas County District Attorney's Office confirmed.

Johnson-Swartz had been named one of seven finalists for the 2025 Colorado Teacher of the Year award out of a pool of approximately 1,300 candidates. She had no prior criminal history, according to the Gazette. The age and gender of the juvenile victim were not released in the arrest affidavit.