Posted on 12/27/2007 9:49:29 AM PST by redrunner
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A key lawmaker will champion proposed legislation that would criminalize sex between teachers and older teens who are not protected by Kentucky's age-of-consent law.
State Rep. Kathy Stein, chairwoman of the House Judiciary Committee, took responsibility for the legislation after its originator resigned to take a job in the Gov. Steve Beshear's fledgling administration.
"Boys and girls, when they have a teacher or an aide in a position of authority, are extremely vulnerable, and they deserve protection from that," she said.
Sexual misconduct allegations led states across the country to take action against the teaching licenses of 2,570 educators from 2001 through 2005, according to a seven-month Associated Press investigation, the results of which were published in October. Young people were the victims in at least 1,801 of the cases, and more than 80 percent of those were students.
In Kentucky, officials handled nearly 100 instances of teacher sexual misconduct over the five-year-period the AP reviewed, ranging from minor violations like using sexual language to more serious, criminal acts such as inappropriate touching and even sodomy and rape.
Former state Rep. J.R. Gray, a Democrat who left the General Assembly to become Beshear's new labor commissioner, proposed the legislation that would allow prosecutors to charge teachers with statutory rape if they have consensual sex with 16- or 17-year-old students.
Beshear, who was sworn in as governor earlier this month, hasn't taken a position on the proposed legislation.
"It is extremely important to Gov. Beshear to protect Kentucky's youth from any type of harm," said his spokeswoman, Vicki Glass. "However, it would be premature to comment on the specifics of legislation before it's drafted or on whether he would sign a bill into law until it is in its final form."
Several states have enacted similar measures over the past six years, including Alaska, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington. Lawmakers in New York and South Carolina are considering following suit. The Education Commission of the States said Ohio and Maine have had laws criminalizing such conduct since 1994 and 1995, respectively.
Only eight states have set 18 as the age of consent for both men and women, said Jennifer Boyter, senior policy analyst for The Council of State Governments in Lexington. In the vast majority of states, Boyter said, 16 is the legal age of consent.
The Kentucky legislation would be aimed at adults who abuse their positions of authority to draw teens into sexual relationships. The bill, however, exempts married couples, even when an underage spouse is married to an adult.
No one has yet offered any public opposition to the proposed legislation, including the Kentucky Education Association, which represents 35,000 teachers and other public school employees.
Gray, of Benton, said one of the cases that alerted to him to the need for such legislation is in his hometown, where a high school band teacher was accused of having sex with a student. Prosecutors had been unable to pursue felony charges because the girl involved was over 16, which is Kentucky's age of consent.
The teacher, Michael Colvett, 37, of Benton, was charged in October with unlawful transaction with a minor, a misdemeanor, for allegedly encouraging the girl to disobey her parents.
However, last week a grand jury indicted the teacher on a charge of third-degree rape, alleging that he had had sex with a girl before she turned 16. He was also charged with tampering with physical evidence, unlawful transaction with a minor and two counts of sexual abuse.
His lawyer, Mark Bryant, said Colvett would plead not guilty to all charges.
Hate to say it, but a society that needs such laws is probably well beyond their having an effect.
The age of consent and the age of majority are 2 different ages.
I know it’ll sound disgusting, but I bet 10 years ago, a boy would be looked at as a king by the other guys if the cute teacher kissed him on the cheek. Nevermind anything else...
Doesn’t sound disgusting at all....I had a few that I wouldn’t have minded having...er.....”relations” with.
uh... I presume you are referring to your teachers???
Ha ha ha. Boys are "vulnerable"? I'm sure she'd like to believe that. In reality, it's more like "I'M HOT FOR TEACHER!"
“I got it bad, got it bad, got it bad, I’m hot for teacher.”
Heck yeah, I mean my teachers....whaddya think I am...a perv?
For the record, I think making relations with teachers through high school illegal, regardless of the age of consent, a good idea.....despite my having teachers that I’d have had no problem having relations with whe I was 15-18.
ah... sorry... i forgot to mention I had turned on my sarcasm... my bad...
No no no....I saw your sarcasm and sent it back dripping with mine.
This kind of law is new to me. It seems to me that if "encouraging a minor to disobey their parents" is illegal then a few state legilatures are guilty. Such as those states that make it legal for minors to get abortions without parental consent and allow their schools to pass out contraceptives without parental knowledge.
Perhaps Maine, California and other states with those laws have no "unlawful transaction" laws. IMO they should and state legilators should be charged and tried under them.
“You can make it illegal, but you can’t make it unpopular.”
—Martin Behrman, mayor of New Orleans, on the closing of the Storyville brothel district
[roll that beautiful Alex Van Halen drum intro]
No child should be given contraceptives without parental apporoval. That is disgusting, IMHO.
It's too bad that private schools are so expensive. (Especially in homes where home-schooling is out of the question.)
Personally, I detest having my taxes go to support the public school system. Taxpayers should be able to choose where their tax dollars go.
In a sense we do choose where our tax dollars go by who we elect to represent us. Unfortunately, as a nation, we are not doing a very good job in that respect. Half the time we get snookered by liars and the other half we fall for some feel-good scam.
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