Amy Beck released from prison, civil suit drags on

Parties involved in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from a sexual liaison between a former Burbank Unified middle school teacher and her student met behind closed doors Friday to discuss moving the case from state to federal court.

Attorneys declined to comment on the proceedings. A hearing scheduled for October was canceled, and no new court dates have been set.

In March 2009, then-Jordan Middle School teacher Amy Beck turned herself in to police and confessed to having had a sexual relationship with a male student. The student, who was 14 at the time, has not been identified.

Beck, the mother of three young children, pleaded no contest to two charges of unlawful sex with a minor. She served a two-year prison sentence before being released on March 20, state prison officials confirmed Friday.

According to a state database of registered sex offenders, Beck is living in Carson. She is required to register as a sex offender for life.

In January, the victim’s family sued Beck and the Burbank Unified School District, alleging that the teacher groomed the teenager for two years before initiating a sexual relationship that lasted from March to September 2009.

She made repeated and unsolicited sexual advances, telling him she wanted to “teach him about sex,” according to the lawsuit.

The suit also names her husband, Nathaniel Beck, and his employer, the Los Angeles Police Department, alleging that he threatened to kill his wife’s teenage lover with his department-issued gun.

The plaintiffs are seeking undisclosed damages.

— Megan O’Neil