A former Poudre High School counselor has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing one of her students.
According to the 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Cassandra Poncelow, 41, who worked for Poudre School District for 17 years, from 2007 to 2024, pleaded guilty in July to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child, a class 3 felony.
As part of her sentencing that took place Monday, the evil bitch will also be subject to 10 years of sex offender intensive supervised probation upon her prison release from the Colorado Department of Corrections.
Prosecutors said the child molester’s sentence is the maximum allowed for her charges.
The sentencing stems from an April 2023 report to Fort Collins Police Services, submitted by the Colorado Department of Human Services, alleging that the female pedophile had sexually and physically assaulted the victim over several years.
The information was “third-hand,” but according to an affidavit later released, the victim had “sleepovers” at the white pervert’s home and “unsupervised” time in her school counselor’s office.
Police contacted the victim about the DHS report, and she reported she was “surprised” and denied any type of sexual relationship. She did admit she had a close relationship with Poncelow and told police that, looking back, she believed the relationship went “beyond what was normal,” the arrest affidavit says.
Ultimately, police closed the criminal case because they could not corroborate the report. In July 2025, the victim went to police when she was ready to share the full extent of Poncelow’s abuse.
The victim estimated she had been assaulted more than 100 times by the sex criminal, the affidavit said.
The victim also told police that Poncelow threatened self-harm if she told anyone about what was going on. According to the affidavit, there had been a conversation between them earlier that year, during which Poncelow admitted their “physical and sexual relationship was not OK.”
The victim confronted Poncelow about whether any other adults knew what was going on, and Poncelow mentioned the DHS report and a Safe2Tell report.
The following month, August 2025, Poncelow was arrested and booked into the Larimer County Jail.
The Safe2Tell report, which was submitted by an unknown person, made allegations against Poncelow of her relationships with students and alcohol abuse. It’s unclear when that Safe2Tell report was filed.
According to the affidavit, school resource officers deemed the situation “non-criminal,” and Poudre School District handled it internally.
Poudre School District told reporters that Poncelow worked at the following schools during her tenure:
- Fort Collins High School
- Poudre High School
- Rocky Mountain High
- Career Tech Center
- Cache la Poudre Middle
- Lincoln Middle
- Webber Middle
- Irish Elementary
Poncelow resigned from the school district effective Sept. 6, 2024.
After Poncelow’s arrest, investigators said another victim came forward to describe multiple incidents of abuse that occurred when they were a minor in 2008.
Prosecutors said the abuse happened while the diabolical bitch was a leader at Young Life, a Christian youth organization.
Detectives interviewed others involved with the same Young Life group and determined that Poncelow developed a pattern of creating close relationships with students over whom she held authority.
For many survivors of abuse, disclosing their experiences can be deeply traumatic, and they may take years to feel ready to do so, the DA’s news release explained.
Investigators believe Poncelow may have more victims. Anyone who believes they may be a victim or has additional information about similar behavior is encouraged to call Larimer County Crime Stoppers at 970-221-6868.
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