Teacher/student sex ok according to judge..?

[garhkal]

Ok. I have had 3 reads through this and i still am flabbergasted..

http://www.kswo.com/story/36110827/j...constitutional

If adult X can't have sex with underage person Y cause they LEGALLY CAN'T consent to sex, even if the underage person is the one initiating the contact, HOW CAN they give consent to a teacher?!?

[the_real_Barleycorn]

The judge is saying that the age of consent is 16. The special circumstances of someone being in what is percieved to be a controlling position is not legally actionable. The teacher/student law could be used to prosecute someone who is a boss over an employee, or an officer over an enlisted person, or a senior person over a junior person. You can't make a law that only applies to one profession like teaching. What about a circumstance where the teacher is not directly involved with the student? What about a counselor/student relationship? Of course this is all predicated on consent. A teacher is breaking the law and job regs if they force through threat or other intimidation (you'll fail my class if you don't) someone to have sex with them. Then we're talking about something completely different; rape. This also applies if the student is too young to consent.

I think the judge was correct in their opinion.

[Jackie S]

In my opinion, if a student is of legal age of consent for the State he or she lives in, then these laws should be of a civil nature.

That means, the school district can fire them, but there would be no criminal charges. This would be similiar to Military Laws against fraternization. The Military doesn't throw people in jail for that, but they can sure punish them.

However, if there is evidence of any type of activity that would fall under criminal statutes, that is another story. Rape and sexual assault are against the laws of all States, regardless of whether a person is a teacher, a student, a lawyer, or what ever.