Teacher to face trial on sex charge

Time was when fooling around with a minor who was age 16 or older was only a misdemeanor. But a new law that took effect in July in Kentucky raised the age of consent from 16 to 18 when the adult is in a position of authority, such as a teacher.

According to police, Nicole Elizabeth Howell telephoned a 16-year-old boy after a high school football game and invited him to her house.

Now, she wants to apologize for her "bad judgment." She says nothing happened, but police wonder why it is the boy could describe a tattoo she sports on her backside.

This from On the Beat in the Bluegrass, photo from TeacherCrimes.com:

COVINGTON — A felony sex charge against a Northern Kentucky teacher can go forward, a judge has ruled.

Prosecutors argued at a hearing in Covington on Tuesday that Dayton High School teacher Nicole Elizabeth Howell should be charged with first-degree sex abuse for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old student.

Defense attorney Pat Moeves asked that the charge against his 25-year-old client be thrown out because the student wasn’t in any of her classes, The Kentucky Enquirer reported. “Our client didn’t exercise any undue influence or control over the alleged victim,” he said.

Kenton County prosecutor Brian Richmond countered that simply being a teacher put Howell in a position of authority...

Attorney, Brian Halloran, tried to have the charge thrown out by arguing Howell never had the alleged victim in one of her classes. The law applies to adults who have a position of “control and influence” over their victims, he said. Howell wasn’t in a position to even influence the alleged victim’s grades, much less a supervisory role.

Kenton District Judge Ken Easterling disagreed. If convicted Howell, 25, of Covington faces up to five years in prison.

To add to her troubles, yesterday the superintendent of Dayton Independent Schools Gary Rye fired Howell citing "conduct unbecoming of a teacher." Howell was a first-year English teacher at Dayton High School.