A judge in the State Of Alabama has ruled that the Alabama state law that criminalizes school teachers engaging in sex with students is unconstitutional. The judge has used this conclusion to dismiss two cases that were brought to court against two high school staffs that were engaging in sexual activities with students.
The judge's ruling
The judge ruled that "the cases against two high school staff Carrie Witt a teacher and David Solomon, a former high school aide will be dismissed because the law used to charge the two in court violates their 14th amendment rights." The judge also ruled that "the law only prohibits sexual activity between people below the age of 16 and that the current laws do not determine whether or not the sex was as a result of abuse of authority or as a result of consent." The judge further ruled that "the court found that the students were above the Age Of Consent until investigators conclude that the school's staff used their authority to coerce the students."
Defendants were thus allowed to use consent as their defense if they did not use power to engage in sex with the students.
Recent teacher-student sex cases
In yet another case in the state of Alabama, a teacher was charged with engaging in sex with a student aged 17 years. The judge who handed the case ruled that "current laws protect vulnerable people such as those who are mentally incapacitated and minors." The judge also stated that "the defendant was being accused because of his employment status at the high school and that the relationship was between people of consent age and that consent was given freely without defects."
In April of this month, a former 30-year-old female teacher from Alabama pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with three high school students. The teacher was arrested back in November 2014.
The teacher was also charged with two counts of providing pornographic materials when she showed her private parts to a minor via Snapchat.
The judge handling this case stated that the charges against the teacher could not be dismissed despite the victim's lawyer terming the accusations as unconstitutional.
Alabama school employee-student sex laws
The Alabama school employee-student sex code of 2012 section 13A-6-81 states that it is illegal for a school employee to have sex with a student younger than 19 years old and that sexual consent cannot be used as a defense. The state has classified this law as a class B felony.
