teachercrime
12-01-2008, 04:55 PM
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/ralph-kelly.jpg
Ralph Kelly
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/Melissa-Snow.jpg
Melissa Snow
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/Michael-Morrow.jpg
Michael J. Morrow
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/weaver.jpg
Andrew Charles Weaver
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/Matthew-Lindholm.jpg
Mathew Lindholm
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/Yvette-Starzyk.jpg
Yvette Starzyk
6 teachers to lose licenses
A high school teacher is accused of sexually assaulting a teenaged boy.
Another teacher gets five years probation for kissing and fondling a 14-year-old girl.
Still another goes to prison for at least 15 years for luring a 16-year-old student into a sexual relationship by telling her he had a fatal illness.
All of this in just three months in Colorado.
"Most people would like to believe this is aberrant behavior that only happens once or twice a year in some far, far away school district," said Dr. Bob Shoop, a professor of educational law at Kansas State University. "But I think it's very naive to believe that it can't be happening in every school district."
Since 1995, 77 Colorado teachers have had their licenses suspended, revoked or denied for sexually assaulting a child, according to the state Department of Education.
Sexual assault of a child accounts for about one of every five disciplinary actions against Colorado teachers since 1995. This year, it's one in four.
Numbers hold steady
Eric Yoder, an investigator with the Colorado Department of Education, said any sexual misconduct and certainly sexual misconduct that involves a child is viewed as so serious that it "makes the person unfit to hold a license."
It's hard to say if more teachers are sexually abusing students because national statistics aren't compiled on educator sexual misconduct. And while more victims seem to be stepping forward, it's estimated that only 5 percent to 15 percent of cases are reported, Shoop said. Yet the problem is every bit as prevalent as sexual abuse was among Catholic priests, Shoop said.
"This is where the priests/Catholic church thing was 10 years ago," he said. "It's just beginning to get on people's national radar."
In Colorado, the number of new cases that comes before the State Board of Education each year has been holding steady for five years.
But there do appear to be some trends. The vast majority of teacher sexual misconduct still involves men preying on girls. But female teachers tend to get lighter sentences and a disproportionate amount of media attention.
That's because men are traditionally stereotyped as predators while women "would never do anything to harm a child," Shoop said.
"Often times, the female preying on the child is fodder for late-night comedians and others to just say, 'Who wouldn't want that to happen to them? I wish it would happen to me. Who wouldn't want to have sex with her? What's he complaining about?'" Shoop said. "You would never hear anybody say something like that about a male having sex with a female child."
The damage to the child is the same, but there is one difference between male and female teachers who abuse students. Men usually have "serial, sequential victims," while women rarely have more than one victim and rationalize that "there's nothing wrong with this because I truly love him," Shoop said.
Higher standard
This year in Colorado, six teachers have had their licenses revoked or denied for sexually assaulting a child. They include a sixth-grade teacher in Caņon City who gave students alcohol and marijuana, showed them pornography and engaged in sexual activity with male students, and a high school science teacher who had sex with a former student after she turned 18.
The latest arrest in Denver was of Sheridan High School teacher Melissa Snow, 27, on Nov. 5. Police say she sexually assaulted a student in October. She has been charged with two counts of sexual assault.
"We don't have any tolerance for that," said Pam Suckla, chair of the Colorado Board of Education. "You're teaching the most precious gift that we all get, and that's our children."
Note: The teachers pistured have been arrested in Colorado in the past 90 days for sex crimes against students. Thiose pictured are not necessarily the ones to lose their license as of this date.
http://www.teachercrime.com/news.html
Ralph Kelly
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/Melissa-Snow.jpg
Melissa Snow
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/Michael-Morrow.jpg
Michael J. Morrow
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/weaver.jpg
Andrew Charles Weaver
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/Matthew-Lindholm.jpg
Mathew Lindholm
http://www.teachercrime.com/photos/Yvette-Starzyk.jpg
Yvette Starzyk
6 teachers to lose licenses
A high school teacher is accused of sexually assaulting a teenaged boy.
Another teacher gets five years probation for kissing and fondling a 14-year-old girl.
Still another goes to prison for at least 15 years for luring a 16-year-old student into a sexual relationship by telling her he had a fatal illness.
All of this in just three months in Colorado.
"Most people would like to believe this is aberrant behavior that only happens once or twice a year in some far, far away school district," said Dr. Bob Shoop, a professor of educational law at Kansas State University. "But I think it's very naive to believe that it can't be happening in every school district."
Since 1995, 77 Colorado teachers have had their licenses suspended, revoked or denied for sexually assaulting a child, according to the state Department of Education.
Sexual assault of a child accounts for about one of every five disciplinary actions against Colorado teachers since 1995. This year, it's one in four.
Numbers hold steady
Eric Yoder, an investigator with the Colorado Department of Education, said any sexual misconduct and certainly sexual misconduct that involves a child is viewed as so serious that it "makes the person unfit to hold a license."
It's hard to say if more teachers are sexually abusing students because national statistics aren't compiled on educator sexual misconduct. And while more victims seem to be stepping forward, it's estimated that only 5 percent to 15 percent of cases are reported, Shoop said. Yet the problem is every bit as prevalent as sexual abuse was among Catholic priests, Shoop said.
"This is where the priests/Catholic church thing was 10 years ago," he said. "It's just beginning to get on people's national radar."
In Colorado, the number of new cases that comes before the State Board of Education each year has been holding steady for five years.
But there do appear to be some trends. The vast majority of teacher sexual misconduct still involves men preying on girls. But female teachers tend to get lighter sentences and a disproportionate amount of media attention.
That's because men are traditionally stereotyped as predators while women "would never do anything to harm a child," Shoop said.
"Often times, the female preying on the child is fodder for late-night comedians and others to just say, 'Who wouldn't want that to happen to them? I wish it would happen to me. Who wouldn't want to have sex with her? What's he complaining about?'" Shoop said. "You would never hear anybody say something like that about a male having sex with a female child."
The damage to the child is the same, but there is one difference between male and female teachers who abuse students. Men usually have "serial, sequential victims," while women rarely have more than one victim and rationalize that "there's nothing wrong with this because I truly love him," Shoop said.
Higher standard
This year in Colorado, six teachers have had their licenses revoked or denied for sexually assaulting a child. They include a sixth-grade teacher in Caņon City who gave students alcohol and marijuana, showed them pornography and engaged in sexual activity with male students, and a high school science teacher who had sex with a former student after she turned 18.
The latest arrest in Denver was of Sheridan High School teacher Melissa Snow, 27, on Nov. 5. Police say she sexually assaulted a student in October. She has been charged with two counts of sexual assault.
"We don't have any tolerance for that," said Pam Suckla, chair of the Colorado Board of Education. "You're teaching the most precious gift that we all get, and that's our children."
Note: The teachers pistured have been arrested in Colorado in the past 90 days for sex crimes against students. Thiose pictured are not necessarily the ones to lose their license as of this date.
http://www.teachercrime.com/news.html