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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A Rutgers University professor convicted of sexually assaulting a disabled man she said had consented to the relationship by communicating on a keyboard is scheduled to be sentenced.

Anna Stubblefield, former chair of the university’s philosophy department, used her position to take advantage of the 34-year-old man, who has cerebral palsy and is unable to speak, prosecutors said.

Stubblefield previously served as chairwoman of the Rutgers’ philosophy department. She met the 34-year-old man in 2009 through his brother, who had been taking her course. Over the next two years, Stubblefield worked with the man using a method known as facilitated communication. She argued that although he could not speak, he could communicate by typing.

She said the two were love and they revealed their sexual relationship to his mother and brother in 2011.

Prosecutors challenged the method of facilitated communication, and psychologists determined that he was mentally incompetent and couldn’t consent to sexual activity.

The judge barred expert testimony on facilitated communication, determining it’s “not a recognized science.”

Stubblefield, who plans to appeal her conviction, faces a maximum prison sentence of 40 years on Friday.

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