26 Year old Teacher jailed for lesbian sex with 15 year old

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L i b

Children are not deemed to be capable of the informed consent which is a normal prerequisite of any sexual relationship. This is even more obvious when it is a child being molested by an adult who has authority and power.

She wasn't molested, if you look up the definition there's a clear difference between that and what has happened between them.

She may have authority and power but I haven't heard about the girl feeling pressurised into the relationship, after all she started it.

She's a child: she's neither bi, gay or straight.

Children, even though she's a 15 year old, have sexual feelings for other people, she wouldn't have had an affair with a woman had she not have been bi or gay.

Exactly - and it's is exactly that situation which means that a child shouldn't be put in that situation.

Shouldn't be put in that situation?

Jesus, if I had been 15 and she was into me, oh the things I would've have done to her.

Perhaps they were in love and they both had feelings for each other, then what? Is it wrong for people to have feelings for one another?

Furthermore, she's 15, not what I would consider a child, I know it's not the case but had she been 16 the teacher wouldn't have been sent to jail which just goes to show how 'young' or 'capable' she actually was eh?

Reply 81

menagerie

L i b

And if it had been a six year old, then she would only have needed to be ten years older. That's not a 'technicality'.

I don't see how you assume she isn't a threat - she did it to one child, despite an overwhelming trust not to. In the absence of that trust situation, she'll only be more likely to do these sorts of things if the opportunity presents itself.

As for 'loving' - I don't really care. Its not the feeling that are particularly problematic, it's the acts she committed.

It will, however, appropriately punish her, and also show that there is more at stake to child molesters than simply losing their jobs. Would you suggest that someone who rapes children should not be punished at all if they don't happen to be in a profession they can be expelled from?

Aren't you assuming that she IS a threat to children though and that she is more likely to offend again if not in a position of trust? The six year old comparison is unfair. This is a very tricky case in the sense that no one involved has implied any kind of predatory behaviour on the teacher's behalf. The age thing here IS a technicality - if, like in other countries, the age of consent was slightly lower, that would not be an issue. It is no where near the same as a 6 year old - 15 is an age of maturity, where, in other areas of the law you must take responsibility for your actions. I agree that the teacher abused her position of trust, but that she was coerced into it by the student, who is of an age to know exactly what she was doing and the danger it put the teacher in.

'Raping children' is a broad term. In this case, well, it isn't even technically rape, but even if it was, both the terms 'rape' and 'children' would only JUST apply. It is highly different to a woman who grooms and molests a 9 year old girl. Punishments are meant to suit the crime, and I don't think this does.

Edit:

In this case, 'child' is loosely applied. A 15 year old is more than capable of consenting, even if the law does not currently recognise this. And I think that your second statement is highly ignorant - what makes you assume that 15-year-olds have not identified with a sexual orientation? The 15 year old in question may have been in multiple sexual relationships with females before. And furthermore, when I was 15, I had friends that had identified themselves as gay, straight and bi. At 15, I was as sure of my own orientation as I am now.

Reply 82

Andy the Anarchist

Bagration

I think it should be abolished and replaced with a law that allows courts to decide more flexibly whether abuse of trust took place (which is really what age of consent is about, isn't it -- we all know its wrong for a 30 year old to persuade a 12 year old that a sexual relationship would be cool, but if the 12 year old thought that without persuasion, it's different...) and you have to take the different ages into account, too; I think the flexibility of the common law and the representative views of a jury are absolutely necessary here.

Hmmm

The problem with such a "flexible" approach is that it doesn't really act as much of a deterrent. If an older person can coerce a teenager into a sexual relationship with them, they may try to do so in the hope that they can later pass it off as consensual. Add complicating factors like alcohol and it sounds a recipe for disaster.

The way I see it, the age of consent acts as a protective measure for those who are not mentally mature enough to make decisions about their sex life to prevent them from being coerced by older people. In cases where the two participants are of a similar age, then the possibility for abuse is much smaller.

Reply 83

Aggie-agatha

I don't agree. I think she deserves what she got. Just because the 15 year old showed feelings and what not, the teacher has to say no. She is the adult! There are rules for a reason.

It must be really easy blaming it on the 15 year old "Oh but she made me do it"... THE 15 YEAR OLD MADE THE 26 YEAR OLD ADULT WHO HAS COMMON SENSE AGREE TO A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP. That sounds so bloody stupid. Like i said she is the adult, she acted wrongly. She knows how the rules are and she broke them she deserves what she got. Why not wait until the girl finished her GCSEs and then start dating? Why did it have to begin THEN!?

Reply 84

scanningforlifeforms

well, here's my view

the fact is that the teacher did have sex with a pupil who was under the age of consent, did abuse a position of trust and has broken the law. Therefore, she must be punished suitably.

However, the sentence handed down is extremely harsh, and i feel there does need to be more discretion in these cases-possibly a psych. evaluation of the 'victim' by a professional to decide whether they were being coerced, or made an ill-informed (but independent) decision.

I'd also like to add that there is a huge disparity in the way we view these events based on gender. For instance, a 26 year old male teacher with a 15 year old female pupil is automatically a sexual predator, a paedophile who needs to be locked up with the likes of Huntley, West and the sorts of people who view child porn or molest prepubescent children.

A 26 year old female teacher with a 15 year old male pupil is just a randy teenage boy getting some, and is never harshly punished.

Also, the fact that male teachers with younger pupils are charged with statutory rape, while female teachers with male pupils are not, is a shockingly sexist disparity in the law, and should be corrected.