A former Cornwall teacher was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old student.

Jennifer Dorland, 42, was a Grade 7 and Grade 8 teacher at Rothwell-Osnabruck School when she was charged in January 2006.

During Dorland's trial, court heard she kissed and fondled a 13-year-old student in the basement of her home in South Stormont, Ont., in September 2004. She was found guilty last December.

Judge Julie-Anne Parfett says the incident was a fundamental breach of trust between a teacher and a student.

However, Parfett did not agree with the Crown's request for a 15-month jail sentence, saying Dorland has already suffered by damaging her reputation in a small community.

Dorland was suspended from work at Rothwell-Osnabruck School in Ingleside, Ont., when charges were laid against her in 2006, and her teaching licence was revoked in May by the Ontario College of Teachers.

With a report from The Canadian Press