Protecting School Students from Teacher Sexual Assault—Regardless of Sex or Age
By Laurie A. Couture
Just like every metalhead of my generation, I rocked out to the song, “Hot For Teacher” by Van Halen; however, as an adult, I find it abhorrent that any teacher would actually breach the boundary of caretaker and exploit the emotional neediness or the confusing raging hormones of any student, regardless of age. The lyrics of the song are a powerful testament to the vulnerability of adolescents—who are learning how to cope with a flood of hormones and intense feelings—to the inappropriate attention of school authorities who exploit youths in their “care” for their own gratification.
Whether 18, 19, or younger, a K-12 school student is a vulnerable child who is often at the mercy of school teachers and school authorities. The power dynamic is absolute, with the school authority wielding total power over a subordinate student. Teachers and school staff can manipulate youths with praise, attention, gifts, favors, recess, discipline, and even power over a youth’s grades, transcript, diploma, scholarship, and sports team position. Abusive teachers gravitate toward students who lack support, supervision, and secure attachments at home, and some parents will align with these teachers in punishing their own children. The prison-like power dynamic of school makes it impossible for there to be true sexual consent between a student and school teacher or staff, regardless of age.
Typically, however, while male school teachers who rape and sexually exploit female students have gotten the full weight of the law thrown at them, including decades of prison time, female school teachers who rape and sexually exploit male and female students have tended to get a “slap on the wrist”, sometimes doing no more than pay a fine or serve probation. Moreover, the media treats the cases like soap operas, with headlines such as, “Sexy Substitute Gets No Jail Time” and “Middle school PE teacher, 40, arrested for sex romp with teen boy student”. In a Utah case, Judge Mark Kouris admitted to his own gender bias in sentencing a 29-year-old female substitute teacher to 36 months of probation and a fine for sexually exploiting a 17-year-old boy (WND, 2006). Judge Kouris said to the perpetrator: “If this was a 29-year-old male and a 17-year-old female, I would be inclined to order some incarceration”.
However, New Hampshire is in the process of testing their commitment to a 2021 law that makes it a felony for any type of employee, contractor, or volunteer at a K-12 school to engage in any sexual activity with a student, even if the student is 18 years of age or older. It even extends 10 months past the graduation date of the student. In March of 2022, 38-year-old teacher, Bridgette Doucette-Howell was indicted following an investigation into accusations that she kissed and had sexual intercourse with an 18-year-old male student. The law that Doucette-Howell is being prosecuted under is known as the “Howie Leung Loophole Law”. It went into effect in 2021 after a group of students reportedly witnessed Leung, a male teacher, kissing a female student from their school who was legally an adult—This occurred while he was standing accused on out of state child rape allegations. The Doucette-Howell case will be the first case tried under the new law, and NH Rockingham County Attorney, Patricia Conway stated in an article that she intends “to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law”, based upon the evidence (Schinella, 2022). I believe strongly in every defendant’s right to due process; however, we will have to wait and see whether the evidence or gender bias determines the outcome of this case.
References:
Schinella (2022): https://patch.com/new-hampshire/concord-nh/teacher-amherst-first-face-howie-leung-loophole-law-charges
WND. (2006, September, 19). ‘Sexy substitute’ gets no jail time. Retrieved February 29, 2020, from https://www.wnd.com/2006/09/37982/
WND. (2008, April 15). The big list: Female Teachers with students. Retrieved April 15, 2008, from https://www.wnd.com/2014/08/39783/
