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A former Utah junior high school teacher who sexually abused a 15-year-old student will have to wait nine years before he can again ask to be released from prison.

Stephen Niedzwiecki, 35, has already served a year in prison after he pleaded guilty last year to four third-degree felonies — two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a 16- or 17-year-old.

Last week, the former Jefferson Academy coach and teacher had his original parole hearing, where he apologized for victimizing now-19-year-old Jaime Heiner.

"I am so sorry for what I did to my victim," he said. "I took a very sacred and special thing from her. ... I could not look myself in the mirror for a very long time, and I barely can now."

In a Tuesday decision, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole set a rehearing for April 2024, which will allow Niedzwiecki time to complete sex offender treatment in the prison.

The parole board will decide after that future hearing whether to grant a parole date, set another rehearing or order Niedzwiecki to serve the maximum sentence of 20 years.

Because a Davis County judge ordered the former teacher to serve the prison sentences consecutive to one another, he could be imprisoned until 2034.

Niedzwiecki said last week that he was invited into the Heiner home in 2011 as he was struggling with divorcing his wife and family health issues. Niedzwiecki, who began sexually abusing Heiner that summer, claimed he asked her parents in December 2011 if he could date her.

The relationship with the girl, who was 17 years younger than he, continued until April 2012, Niedzwiecki said.

Jaime Heiner now lives out of state and did not attend Niedzwiecki's parole hearing. But her brother, Benjamin Heiner, told a parole board member that his sister's relationship with the older man was not "endorsed" by his family.

"He came into our life, into my parents' life, and he used the best parts of them to get what he wanted," the brother said. "He used their compassion, their caring, their nurturing. My parents wanted to help him. They invited him in as a family member, not as a potential suitor for their 14-year-old child."

In a letter written by Jaime Heiner that was read by her brother at the hearing, she asked that her abuser not be granted parole.

"I don't believe Mr. Niedzwiecki is sorry for his crimes," the letter read. "I believe he is sorry he got caught. That he didn't manipulate me better. ... There is no doubt in my mind that he will have another victim. This is not a man that has a desire to change. This is something he was proudly doing his entire life. I believe if he were granted a parole date, he would be a menace to the community."

The Salt Lake Tribune does not generally name victims of sexual abuse, but is doing so in Jaime Heiner's case, with her permission, because she has gone public with her experience and is using it to encourage other victims to speak out.

After Niedzwiecki pleaded guilty in January 2014, Heiner began publicly advocating for Prevent Child Abuse Utah, and she started her own victim-empowerment organization, I Am My Own Hero.

Twitter: @jm_miller