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Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2007 > January > 30 > Entry
Profile of a sex offending teacher
(Letourneau and LaFave)
If you have a 15-year-old son, live in Florida or California and your son’s teacher is a 31-year-old woman named Pamela, Nicole or Amy you might have a reason to worry.
That’s because my review of 79 cases of sex offending women teachers in the U.S. suggests this is the typical circumstance in which misbehavior occurs.
Last week, I got an e-mail from the website WorldNetDaily, which has something of a fascination with sex offending women teachers. The site has been writing about such teachers for some time and arguing that there is an “epidemic” of women teachers having sex with teen-aged boys across the country. Among the high profile cases we all remember are Mary Kay Letourneau in Washington and Debra LaFave in Florida.
The typical case of an teacher-child sex offense, in most of our minds, involves an adult male offender. But in the news there seems to more and more cases of women teachers as the offender over the past couple of years. Is this because there is an actual trend of more sex offenses by women teachers? Or is it just that we hear about them more?
Well, WorldNetDaily did an interesting thing — it compiled every media report it could find online about sex offending women teachers.
I have to say, I found the list pretty amazing. I also typed some basic info from each case into an Excel spreadsheet and ran some numbers. I threw out cases outside the U.S. and non-teacher cases such as bus drivers and teachers’ aides. Here’s what I found:
—There were 79 total cases. The oldest (the infamous Pamela Smart) was from 1993 and the newest was from 2007. A huge 70 percent (56) of the cases WorldNetDaily found came to light since the start of 2005.
—The biggest states for these cases are Florida and California with eight cases, followed by New York (7), Texas (7) and New Jersey (6). No big surprise there as all are among the most populous states. Ohio, also a large state, has perhaps fewer cases than might be expected with three, including Huber Heights teacher Celeste Emerick.
—The average age of the victim in these cases is 15 and victims on the list range in age from 12 to 17.
—Pamela, Nicole and Amy were the most common first names of offending teachers, but with just three cases for each name.
—Eight cases involved teacher misbehavior with multiple boys and eight cases involved misconduct by women teachers with young girls.
I was surprised by the pure number of these sorts of cases since 2005. I am doubtful that this is a growing trend as opposed to one we are just noticing more, but I have to admit this made me re-think my view. I was also surprised by how young the average victim was. I would have guessed 16 or 17.
What jumps out at you from these stats?
Permalink | Comments (27) | Categories: My Favorite Posts, Student Health and Safety
Comments
By Tim
February 2, 2007 4:04 PM | Link to this
As a retired Law Enforcement officer I can tell you it has been going on for years. It is now the hot topic. I think one child assaulted is one to many but this whole sexual offender thing is so blown out of sight. Did you know that most sex assaults are done by someone the victim knows very well the figure is near 90%. Did you know that those convicted of sexual assault have one of the lowest repeat rates of crime. I am not saying we should say its ok, I am saying the media has done a great job with those we elected to office of making this whole thing with sex offenders seem bigger than it is. Lets do a better job of teaching our kids who the real danger is and not live in a world were we all think that just because the state and feds have set up a Sex Offender Registry we are now safe. Lets do a better job of getting help for these sick people who do assault our childern. Lets get the truth out and not a bunch of people saying what the danger is. Look to the FBI numbers on Sex crimes and sex offenders also repeat crimes by criminals. Thank You Tim P.By Larry
February 2, 2007 5:21 AM | Link to this
I think much of this has occurred in the past and we’re now having more awareness as school districts no longer sweeping these things under the rug. I’d like to think this more due to increased ethical standards by boards that are willing to take tough stands rather than stricter legal requirements that have been enacted. Teachers have been entrusted with safety and well being of our children, when this is violated all legal recourse needs to be pursued without exception.By Socialwrkr
February 1, 2007 6:48 PM | Link to this
I am stunned and amazed every time I see someone say,”Hey Baby,it doesn’t hurt those kids, the teacher was hot”. BULLCRAP. I work with those kids and they are FOREVER harmed by the abuse. They are not responsible and they are harmed. You can fantasize all you want, but the damage is done. And it is a problem if there is even one case a year. I can also promise it’s WAY under-reported because of people who make it seem like the kid should be happy. SHAME!By Brian
February 1, 2007 3:17 PM | Link to this
Regarding Todd’s comment: Lots of things happen in the world that the media doesn’t report. The media reports the hot topic of the day that gets ratings. There could be a ten fold chance of your kid getting mauled by a pig and if the story doesn’t sell then the media won’t cover it. Secondly, sex sells. This topic involves sex so people pay attention. The issue of your son being sexually involved with a teacher is not nearly as big of a problem as the media makes it out to be. Corporate media is looking to make a buck and this topic sells.By C-P.O.
February 1, 2007 9:56 AM | Link to this
“Angels” or not- what seperates them from adults is the accountability you speak of. Children lack the ability to fully understand the extent of there actions - they live in the now. Hope some child has not victimized you, you sound bitter.By Steve
February 1, 2007 8:10 AM | Link to this
Get real, it’s not totally the adults fault. Kids today have more info on sex and are more mature then anytime in history. They are sexually active at a younger age due to all the things in the media, internet, music, TV & movies shown today etc., etc. They want and will do anything they can to be sexually active and act as an adult. I’m not saying the adult shouldn’t go unpunished but there should be some accountability put on some of these “kids” too. They aren’t the little innocent angels we’d like them to be.By getreal
February 1, 2007 8:05 AM | Link to this
This is the same thing that’s been going on in Hollywood for years. The women want to reinforce that they are still young and attractive. The fact that most take place in Calif. & Fla. is no coincidence. The social culture there is one of looking and acting youthful. Many things have been going on for years but now thanks to our ‘shrinking’ world we hear of them more.By null
February 1, 2007 7:57 AM | Link to this
These are not always situations of women who become attracted to children while teaching. Women (and men) who have an unhealthy sexual interest in children will go into careers where they have easy access to children, such as teaching, pediatrics, the priesthood, youth ministry, child care, etc. There are sick people everywhere. A child who is “coming on” to any adult at a young age has self-esteem (or other) issues, and no adult should take advantage of that.By Bill....ex-teacher
January 31, 2007 11:22 PM | Link to this
Taught for 34 years, high school and middle school. Never saw ANY of this… in California, at that. I sincerely doubt that any of the boys/young men I worked with have been harmed in any way by these events; most would have jumped at the oppor- tunity (pun intended). But where were all these women when I was in school, is what I want to know.By GR
January 31, 2007 11:01 PM | Link to this
Where were all these teachers when I was in school?By David
January 31, 2007 10:09 PM | Link to this
It’s just an opinion but the teacher aspect makes a nice media story—bleeds or burns may be second to these stories. But in many cases the students are the instigators beyond what any adults would like to think. It’s like the priest problem that’s been buried through the years. Trouble is that there are more family and friend cases of improper contact than there are teacher-student cases. So the topic isn’t really proper for the blog in my opinion. I’d rather see discussion about education itself.By Sandy
January 31, 2007 8:15 PM | Link to this
Hey Painfultruth; Why is the rape of a child even an issue? What are you, a Neanderthal?? Maybe your child can be brutally raped and butchered and then we can ask you, “why is this even an issue” for you. Dumbass!By Traderjk
January 31, 2007 6:40 PM | Link to this
Painfultruth…The reason why this is an issue is because it involves the molestation of our children by preverted women hired to teach them academics and to care for them while they are on school grounds…duh! I can`t believe you could even ask the question..”Why is this even an issue”.By Oldprof
January 31, 2007 6:37 PM | Link to this
Hog wash, Todd? Was that supposed to be a pun? Actually, I should not have blamed the pigs, I should have said that there are more youth fatilities per year from farm animals in general (cattle cause most of them, 18 or so each year) than there are documented cases of female teachers having sex with students (14 per year). http://origin.cdc.gov/niosh/childag/pdfs/FarmFatalYouth.pdf OK, animals, not pigs. I just love knowing this obscure risk assessment trivia.By john
January 31, 2007 6:28 PM | Link to this
What jumps out: I expected that the proportion of female-female encounters to be smaller than that female-male encounters. But they were equal. Also: I was born too late.By DirtyDYT
January 31, 2007 5:54 PM | Link to this
Hamm mauled by a pig….. Or sex with my middle school teacher… I mean isn�t it every teenagers dream to get into the sack with one of their “Hot” teachers? I know it was the dream of most kids I went to school with.. Anyway I don�t think any of these stories would have made the news if it wasn�t for how attractive the teacher is. If it was an ugly overweight teacher I�m sure we would of never heard about it =)By Paul David
January 31, 2007 5:39 PM | Link to this
To Todd; And do you really think that the generally liberal-minded news media would find any interest in publishing a story of a pig mauling a teen? If so, you’d better find some different source for your news. A teacher molesting a under-aged pupil is far more entertaining to the general populace of America…By Judith M.
January 31, 2007 5:33 PM | Link to this
I think the reported cases are just the tip of the iceberg. Much as with the priest scandal, you don’t know how many kids have been abused in total, because not everyone comes forward. What is disgusting to me is that there are so many WOMEN are doing this. What, they can’t find enough immature men that are their own age?By Dave
January 31, 2007 5:29 PM | Link to this
“I am doubtful that this is a growing trend as opposed to one we are just noticing more, but I have to admit this made me re-think my view.” Oh my…if this would have happened 25 years ago it would have been all over the news.. You mention the infamous Pamela Smart…How many could you find before that? And yet you don’t think it’s an upward trend or anything. Hilarious!By cbrze
January 31, 2007 5:13 PM | Link to this
What jumps out in the story is your not inputting three stats. Bill Clinton, Bimbo eruptions and Monica as the cycle became public and like a wildfire is now raging among perverted females with low self esteems who use sex with children to empower themselves. What jumps out at the stats is ONE child initiated into sex is ONE child too many. It does not matter the stats as one rape, one pedophile or one murder is one too many.By cucjr
January 31, 2007 4:53 PM | Link to this
I have no way to prove it but I think that this is just the beginning. If all women were questioned on their habits as far as porn, chatting and promiscuous sex I have a good notion to think we would be surprised at how many were hooked on such activities. We are now in our 2nd Generation of women who have been exposed to not only lurid romantic novels (yes some can be pretty vulgar) but also the amazing amount of women between 18 and 34 who actively chat and look at porn online. I am sure you will state that I have no clue what I am talking about but actually I do have many first hand experiences with such women…and one was even a teacher named Amy! lol…By Larry Sharp
January 31, 2007 4:48 PM | Link to this
Sexual abuse of a child is a crime whether it is perpetrated by a female or male sex predator. The crime is the same and the results are the same - a child’s innocence is intentionally ripped from them. Therefore, prosecution of sex predators must be the same whether they are female or male.By painfultruth
January 31, 2007 3:30 PM | Link to this
There are 300,000,000 people in the United States. There are going to be nut cases in every area of employment! Why is this even an issue?By Todd
January 31, 2007 11:29 AM | Link to this
oldprof’s comment, “Statistically, your child has at far greater hazard of dying from being mauled by a pig.” is quite simply hog wash. If it were so, there would be at least as many news stories of children dying from being mauled by a pig as there were news stories of female teacher’s having sex with students, unless you believe that the news media is in some kind of conspiracy to coverup pig maulings.By Mary
January 31, 2007 11:05 AM | Link to this
Once again, I find nyself actually agreeing with “old prof” about teaching teens to drive safely, etc. I would suspect more school districts lose students to car accidents and call in grief counselors than have to handle a teacher/student sex scandal. Consider some real world financial training, cooking classes and house maintenance as well as the traditional academics. However, I sometimes wonder if appearance is overemphasized during the hiring process for teachers as it is in many careers. Some of these women seem to be unusally attractive, spending a lot of time on make up and hair do’s, perhaps manicures, cosmetic surgery, expensive clothes, etc. I guess it is harder for employers to look into their brains and intellectual character. It seems a lot of men do the hiring in the school districts. Maybe we can blame it on their hormones, too.By Oldprof
January 31, 2007 9:12 AM | Link to this
Statistically, then, there’s a 0.00056% chance in any year that a female teacher will be charged with a sex offense involving a student? And that qualifies as an “epidemic”? Hyperbole, rather. Statistically, your child has at far greater hazard of dying from being mauled by a pig. Now, if we want to reduce the likelihood of teachers behaving badly, we might do what psychiatry does and require comprehensive mental health counselling as a condition of licensure. We could also try to get parents to discourage their 13-year-old sons from thinking that promiscuity is a sign of masculinity, and our daughters that it’s not a sign of attractiveness. But I think our efforts would be better placed in finding ways to get teens to drive more safely and to avoid weapons; the comparative harm to the teens from those hazards is far, far higher.By Mary
January 30, 2007 1:33 PM | Link to this
What jumps out? (I have been around male humor too much.) That the sex hormones of middle school students is not the only problem. Apparently,some middle school teachers have problems controlling their own sex hormones. Maybe it is contagious. As far as occurence of their first names, that might have something to do with the same occurence of those names in the general population of their age group. Popularity of names varies from year to year.