Posted on 01/11/2009 3:40:12 AM PST by billorites
Neighbors of a suburban schoolteacher who is accused of seducing a 13-year-old boy are still reeling from the shocking allegations lodged against the “clean-cut” woman who appeared to be dedicated to her husband and her job.
“When you talk to her, she is quiet, really nice,” said Erica Mara, 20, who lives across the street from Christine McCallum, 29, who was charged Friday with seven counts of statutory rape.
No one answered the door at McCallum’s home on Central Street in Rockland yesterday.
Mara questioned how McCallum, a teacher at an Abington elementary school, would find time to have an affair. She was rarely seen without her husband, Scott.
“They seem like they got along really good,” Mara said. “Every time I saw them they were in the garden or in the back yard.”
Added Mara’s stepmother, Jaime Mara, 30: “They were always doing something together.”
Police say McCallum befriended the boy in 2005 or early 2006 when he was 13 and she tutored his younger brother. She took the boys under her wing, let them stay at her home, bought them food and gave them rides, police say.
Within months McCallum and the boy, now 16, were having sex on an almost daily basis, police allege. The boy told police he had sex with McCallum more than 300 times at his Abington home and McCallum’s Central Street and Arlington Street homes in Rockland, according to a police report.
The affair ended in November 2007, but it was only recently reported to police when the boy’s father found out, police say.
“I’m kind of blown away,” said Mark Burns, 38, who lives across from the Arlington Street home where the McCallums once lived. “I would have never expected it. They seemed like a clean-cut family.” He saw McCallum and the boy often. She watched him skateboard sometimes, Burns said, adding, “He was always around.”
“They were nice people,” said another Arlington Street neighbor who knew the couple well and didn’t want to be identified. “It’s too sensitive for me to comment.”
McCallum denies the charges. Her attorney says she was a surrogate mother because the boy’s father, a single dad, needed help.
A man named Mike, who lived next to the boys and their father on Winthrop Street in Abington, said he’s not shocked. He said McCallum went beyond the role of teacher, even inviting the boys over for sleepovers. “People aren’t that kind,” said Mike, who wouldn’t give his last name.
McCallum was fired Thursday from her job at the Woodsdale School in Abington. She posted $1,000 bail Friday and was released on condition she submit to GPS monitoring and stay away from the boy and anyone under age 16.
Excellent point. Those making light of this are really not considering the consequences. Also, what if it were a straight man seducing someone’s daughter? Would people be thinking it was amusing then?
The woman needs to at least spend the better part of a few lifetimes in a prison. Sickening.
Or is it possible for just this once, that the boy is lying and the woman is innocent?
Any cellphone records? Pictures? If there were 300 sexual encounters, I'd suspect that there would be ample electronic evidence. That's the way young folks are. E-mails, IM's ,digital photos, blogs, facebook, etc.
Perhaps there's a stained blue dress?
During the trial the defense will be able to question any evidence the prosecution brings. Is it all hearsay? Is that what you contend?
Any word of her husband divorcing her yet?
I would put the age of consent at 14 for boys and girls. They should be able to get married at 15.
In what world?
Unless she's hot, and then it's a bunch of “not guilty” jokes and “where were the hot teachers when I was in school” comments.
I'm contending that there seems to be more to this story than meets the eye.I'm contending that she's presumed to be innocent.
Sorry to be a bummer. I know everyone comes to these threads to check out the teacher, to pass judgment and see if she's a hottie.
I recall another person accused of infidelity.
He vehemently denied it.
Face it. 13 year old boys are not seduced, they are acquiesced
“what if the teacher were a half-decent looking gay man who wanted to have sex with a 13 year old boy?”
Hey Raccoon, did you know that in Massachusetts (with a judge’s consent) it is legal for that 13 year old to marry that “decent looking gay man”.
“Perhaps there’s a stained blue dress?”
The police actually removed the carpet from the home for testing, not sure if she was arrested before or after it was tested.
I just keep recalling that my Grandmother got married when she was 15. She is 87 and Grandpa passed away around 10 years ago. Their marriage worked out just fine.
That little one out in West Texas ...
Lo and behold, from the Boston Globe's story ,
South Shore teacher accused of statutory rape
{snip}
In a message sent to the boy from her MySpace page, McCallum wrote: "It's hard to be in love with you and set boundaries for you. It's hard to kiss you and tell you no."
The boys father saw this back in '06.
{snip}
The boy's father discovered the letters in 2006 and was disturbed but did not think that McCallum and her son had a sexual relationship, according to Chief John Llewellyn of the Rockland Police Department.
"He couldn't comprehend that this person was a predator," Llewellyn said.
That's the comment that really bothers me most.
This whole relationship with the teacher, husband, divorced dad and his kids.... bizarre!
Is it any wonder the world is spiraling out of control?
In Canada eh
No, we are supposed to accept these constructs as families.
Strange too how she had the "boys" over for sleepovers?
I'd have to question the lady.
You're 29. Why are you interested in having my teenage son sleep over at your house ?
That's a question any parent should ask.
She married 72 years ago. The world was vastly different back then. BTW, God bless her
Today it is pretty much asking 15 years to marry, if they even get married, is just about condemning them to a divorce, child(ren) on welfare and dysfunction
In today's culture of coddling, entitlement and immaturity some twenty somethings aren't ready for marriage, heck they can't even handle a normal relationship let alone a commitment like a lifetime of marriage
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