Court Backs 'Consent' Defense in Teacher Sex Case

This from The School Law Blog by Mark Walsh, photo from WRDW.com:

A teacher convicted of having sex with a 16-year-old student should have been allowed to raise the defense that the relationship was consensual, the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled.

The state's highest court ruled 5-2 Monday in Chase v. The State that teacher Melissa Lee Chase was wrongly convicted because a state law barring those who supervise students in school from sexual relationships with them did not preclude the consent defense.

Chase was a 28-year-old teacher at Harlem High School in Harlem, Ga., in 2006 when she had a romantic relationship with a 16-year-old female student, including at least one sexual encounter, according to court papers. The age of consent for sex in Georgia is 16, although school personnel are subject to the state law, revised in 2006, that bars them from sex with those under their supervision. The 16-year-old was in Chase's class, but their romantic relationship began later.

The girl testified that she had initiated and "pushed" the relationship with the teacher. The state supreme court majority said the Georgia legislature did not explicitly bar a consent defense for school personnel...

Age of Consent Law on Trial

This from the Paducah Sun (subscription):

Neelley, Vannerson attorneys seek exemption

from new sexual consent law

Jason Neelley listens to testimony during his preliminary hearing Tuesday in McCracken District Court. Neelly is charged with sexually abusing a 17-year-old student while he was employed at Lone Oak High School.

Attorneys for two people in court Tuesday questioned whether a new law raising the age of sexual consent in certain cases should apply to their clients.

The law, which took effect in July, raises the age of consent from 16 to 18 when the sexual contact is with an adult in a position of authority or special trust.

In the first case, former Lone Oak High School teacher Jason Neelley, 34, is charged with sexually abusing a 17-year-old student who attended the school. In the second case, Jeannie Vannerson, 33, of Kevil is charged with sexually abusing a 16-year-old male family friend who frequently stayed at her house.

Neelley and Vannerson had preliminary hearings Tuesday in McCracken District Court. Judge Tony Kitchen found probable cause to send both cases to a grand jury and set a return court date for March 20...

...Detectives arrested Neelley Dec. 15 after the student agreed to secretly record a conversation with Neelley in which they talked about her performing a sex act on him in his pickup truck during school hours Dec. 3, Hayden said. The encounter occurred while Neelley was driving on Lovelaceville Road after they met in a church parking lot, Hayden said. ...

...In the Vannerson case, McCracken County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Matt Carter testified that Vannerson and the 16-year-old had three sexual encounters. Her husband called 911 and reported his suspicions about 4:30 a.m. Dec. 21.

The 16-year-old told detectives that he spent most of his weekends at the Vannersons and kept a toothbrush and clothing at their home. At one point he had planned to move in with them but did not after his grandmother, his legal
guardian, objected. ...

10 states act to stop teacher sex abuse

This from H-L:

Ten states have taken action in recent months to crack down on sexually abusive teachers following a stream of arrests and reports that have documented the problem of educators victimizing students.

Governors, state education officials and lawmakers have led the push for new measures, which include tougher penalties for teachers who abuse students, punishment for administrators who fail to properly oversee their faculty, and an effort to train an entire state's corps of teachers to recognize potential abusers in their midst.

At least four more states are still considering legislation.

While the vast majority of America's roughly 3 million public school teachers are committed professionals, a disturbing number have engaged in sexual misconduct. When faced with evidence of abuse, administrators sometimes fail to let others know about it, and legal loopholes let some offenders stay in the classroom.

"Too often in the past, we as adults have failed our children," Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said when he signed a new law last month. "Today with this legislation, hopefully, we begin earning back their trust." The measure passed without a single no vote.

Kentucky lawmakers originally drafted a measure aimed at abusive teachers, with the final legislation written broadly to encompass priests, teachers and anyone in authority over someone younger than 18. Besides increasing penalties for abusers and giving prosecutors more time to bring charges, the Kentucky law also takes aim at officials who don't report abuse to authorities...