Post by Jim on Jun 17, 2009 8:55:38 GMT -5
This is bad news for children in Georgia and good news for perverts.
Whats next? A law legalizing Teacher/Student sexual relationships as long as the CHILD is 16 years old or older and agrees to it?
This is ridiculous!!!!! Whoops, oh! it's already legal according to GA CODE!!!!
Something is "bigtime" wrong with this!!!!!
Read the Officials narrow minded thinking about this highlited below, they are leaving out the words "Children/Minors" and actually compare this case to adult "College" students having sexual relationships with their adult teachers......you have got to be kidding me? This is a 16 year old child here you idiot officials!
CHANGE THIS GEORGIA STATUTE NOW!
Whats next? A law legalizing Teacher/Student sexual relationships as long as the CHILD is 16 years old or older and agrees to it?
This is ridiculous!!!!! Whoops, oh! it's already legal according to GA CODE!!!!Something is "bigtime" wrong with this!!!!!
Read the Officials narrow minded thinking about this highlited below, they are leaving out the words "Children/Minors" and actually compare this case to adult "College" students having sexual relationships with their adult teachers......you have got to be kidding me? This is a 16 year old child here you idiot officials!
CHANGE THIS GEORGIA STATUTE NOW!
Student’s reaching age of consent should have been factor in trial
By BILL RANKIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday reversed a sexual assault conviction against a 28-year-old schoolteacher who had a romantic relationship with one of her former students.
In a 5-2 decision, the court said the teacher, Melissa Lee Chase, should have been allowed to present a defense that the 16-year-old student consented to the sexual relationship.
Under Georgia law, the age of consent is 16, Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears wrote. “Generally speaking, it is not a crime in Georgia to have physical sexual contact with a willing participant who is 16 years of age or older.”
Before her conviction, Chase was a highly regarded teacher and softball coach at Harlem High School, about 20 miles outside of Augusta. The teenage girl had previously been one of Chase’s students.
Between August and November 2006, Chase and the girl developed a friendship. Chase had her over for cookouts and occasionally let her spend the night. The relationship turned romantic and, on one occasion, sexual.
The girl’s mother called police after she found notes written to her daughter from Chase and became disturbed about their romantic content. Chase was soon arrested in November 2006.
At a bench trial, the student testified during cross examination that she initiated the relationship with Chase because she “had feelings for her.” The student also testified she was the one who “pushed” the relationship.
Prosecutors objected to this line of questioning, arguing that consent was not allowed as a defense. The judge sustained the objection, found Chase guilty and sentenced her to 10 years in prison.
In Monday’s decision, Sears called the prosecution’s efforts to protect school-age children “admirable.” But the General Assembly did not specifically bar a consent defense when it enacted the state law making it a crime for a teacher to have sex with a student enrolled in school.
If it did bar such a defense, then a 30-year-old law school professor who engaged in fully consensual sex with a 50-year-old law student embarking on a second career would be guilty of a felony and face a minimum 10-year prison term, Sears wrote. That would be “truly absurd and unjust,” Sears wrote.
Justice George Carley, joined by Justice Hugh Thompson, dissented, saying the majority “remarkably” misinterpreted the law and produced a “disturbing” result. “A statute enacted … to protect students from exploitation by teachers is now almost useless due to the judicial imposition of a defense of consent,” Carley wrote.
Richmond County District Attorney Ashley Wright said her next step will be to speak to the alleged victim about the ruling.
“The question is what extent was the victim’s consent affected by the supervisory authority of the teacher,” Wright said. “It’s a lot easier to groom someone into thinking the way you want them to when you have authority over them. That’s the reason the Legislature would want this prohibition [against a consent defense] to stand.”
Find this article at:
www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/06/15/teacher_consent_sex.html
By BILL RANKIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday reversed a sexual assault conviction against a 28-year-old schoolteacher who had a romantic relationship with one of her former students.
In a 5-2 decision, the court said the teacher, Melissa Lee Chase, should have been allowed to present a defense that the 16-year-old student consented to the sexual relationship.
Under Georgia law, the age of consent is 16, Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears wrote. “Generally speaking, it is not a crime in Georgia to have physical sexual contact with a willing participant who is 16 years of age or older.”
Before her conviction, Chase was a highly regarded teacher and softball coach at Harlem High School, about 20 miles outside of Augusta. The teenage girl had previously been one of Chase’s students.
Between August and November 2006, Chase and the girl developed a friendship. Chase had her over for cookouts and occasionally let her spend the night. The relationship turned romantic and, on one occasion, sexual.
The girl’s mother called police after she found notes written to her daughter from Chase and became disturbed about their romantic content. Chase was soon arrested in November 2006.
At a bench trial, the student testified during cross examination that she initiated the relationship with Chase because she “had feelings for her.” The student also testified she was the one who “pushed” the relationship.
Prosecutors objected to this line of questioning, arguing that consent was not allowed as a defense. The judge sustained the objection, found Chase guilty and sentenced her to 10 years in prison.
In Monday’s decision, Sears called the prosecution’s efforts to protect school-age children “admirable.” But the General Assembly did not specifically bar a consent defense when it enacted the state law making it a crime for a teacher to have sex with a student enrolled in school.
If it did bar such a defense, then a 30-year-old law school professor who engaged in fully consensual sex with a 50-year-old law student embarking on a second career would be guilty of a felony and face a minimum 10-year prison term, Sears wrote. That would be “truly absurd and unjust,” Sears wrote.
Justice George Carley, joined by Justice Hugh Thompson, dissented, saying the majority “remarkably” misinterpreted the law and produced a “disturbing” result. “A statute enacted … to protect students from exploitation by teachers is now almost useless due to the judicial imposition of a defense of consent,” Carley wrote.
Richmond County District Attorney Ashley Wright said her next step will be to speak to the alleged victim about the ruling.
“The question is what extent was the victim’s consent affected by the supervisory authority of the teacher,” Wright said. “It’s a lot easier to groom someone into thinking the way you want them to when you have authority over them. That’s the reason the Legislature would want this prohibition [against a consent defense] to stand.”
Find this article at:
www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/06/15/teacher_consent_sex.html
