Saturday, October 24, 2009

Former Teacher Says Life 'Ruined' by Student Sex Claims, Will Sue

This from ABC News (Video): Interview on GMA.


Acquitted Nicole Howell Denied Sex With Student
From Start; Didn't Stop Arrest, Trial

Former teacher Nicole Howell was found not guilty last week of having had a sexual relationship with a student, but that did not stop the rumor from destroying her career, getting her arrested and ruining her life, she said today.

Nicole Howell talks about the allegations that ruined her career.

"My life is ruined. Completely," Howell told "Good Morning America" in an exclusive interview. "My name has been dragged through the mud. I won't be able to teach again. Not because I did anything -- I did not -- but because of the situation."

Her ordeal started in December, when she was suspended from her job as a teacher and assistant cheerleading coach at a Kentucky high school after one of the male students, a 16-year-old football player, claimed the two had had a sexual relationship.

Howell, 26, of Florence, denied that the encounters ever happened and argued that the only evidence against her were the ramblings of a high school kid who, at first, claimed the two had been involved in a threesome with another male student.

Investigators arrested Howell the next month on felony sex abuse charges.

"I think, honestly, it started because people overreacted," Howell said today. "They took something that they thought looked like what they wanted it to look like -- like a stereotype, 'a teacher is accused by a student,' and automatically, it happened. ... That's why I went to trial." ...

This from the Enquirer:

Howell verdict: Who did jury believe?

With no physical evidence presented at trial, it took jurors only 70 minutes to find Dayton High School teacher Nicole Howell not guilty of having sex with a 16-year-old student who played football.

The majority of the case hinged on whether jurors believed what the student claimed (he also contended the sex was consensual), or Howell, who took the stand in her own defense....

Howell's case was one of the first to be prosecuted under a more-stringent state law that makes it a felony for a person in authority to have even consensual sexual relations with someone under 18. In all other instances in Kentucky, the age of consent is considered to be 16....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm pleased she will sue the student. Most principals probably thought this women would go away quietly. She is standing up for herself. More teachers need to do this. In our "It's about kids" culture, teachers seem to have no rights.

Michael Hammonds said...

I think now that Nicole Howell has been found not guilty of having sex with the sixteen year old boy that she needs to forget about it and move on. She doesn't need to worry about what other people think because her and God know what really happend, and in the end thats all that matters. Also I think she should be given another chance to teach.

Chris Rueter said...

I think you're missing the issue, Micheal. It doesn't matter what happened anymore, because no school will hire a teacher who has had a court case involving sex with a teenager. She should be given another chance to teach, but she won't, because principals won't hire someone with this blemish on their record. When you're still paying off your college loans and your degree is unusable, you need some money, and you want some vengeance. Fight the good fight, Nicole!