A DISGRACED “Teacher of the Year” has been locked up for 30 years for sexual abusing underage boys after she sent one of them creepy love letters.

Sick Jacqueline Ma, 36, sexually abused two pupils, both under 14, while working at Lincoln Acres Elementary School in National City in San Diego.

The California tutor was crowned San Diego County’s “Teacher of the Year”, in 2022 – shortly before she was arrested in April 2023.

She pleaded guilty in February to two counts each of forcible lewd acts on a child and possession of matter depicting a minor engaging in sexual conduct.

Cops began probing Ma after the mum of a 12-year-old boy she’d been grooming contacted authorities.

The horrified mum discovered vile love letters and flirty text messages Ma handwritten to the child.

The teacher sent the boy photos of herself and asked him to take and send her videos of himself engaging in sex acts, The San Diego Tribune reported.

In one text, the student responded: “Sometimes I think you don’t understand that I am a kid still.”

Her grooming occurred over a 10-month period according to prosecutors.

She initially faced 180 years behind bars for the shocking abuse.

Police made an additional claim that Ma had also groomed an 11-year-old boy years earlier.

Dramatic footage showed Ma muttering “guilty,” through tears as the charges were read out at the court in February.

Before her sentencing on Friday, Ma told the court: “I am deeply ashamed of my actions.

“Instead of following the path of what a teacher should be, I let my selfishness override the boys’ best interests.”

According to the District Attorney’s Office, Ma groomed the boys by giving them gifts, food and special attention.

In some cases she even did their homework for them.

The judge slammed her actions as more than just a “single lapse of judgement”.

He said the grooming was a “prolonged pattern of child sexual abuse”.

Neither boy attended the hearing, and their family members did not make statements in court.

But the Deputy District Attorney conveyed the sentiments of one of the boys’ mums.

He said of the parent: “She cannot believe she trusted her and is otherwise speechless.

“These parents knew Ms. Ma. They knew who she was, and they trusted her.”

In February, two months before her trial was due to take place, Ma changed her plea to guilty on two lewd acts with a child under the age of 14.

Court footage showed the teacher sobbing in court as she plead guilty to sexually abusing her students.