South Carolina Ping
Posted on 05/19/2005 12:12:06 AM PDT by kingattax
A former North Myrtle Beach High School teacher who had a sexual relationship with a student for about a year declared his love for the girl Tuesday just before he was sentenced to six years in prison for criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
Stephen George Zeltman told the court: "She's an angel. My actions hurt my angel."
The girl, who is not being identified because she was 14 when the pair began their relationship in March 2002, now is 18. Zeltman is 50.
"They had a consensual relationship," Assistant 15th Circuit Solicitor Karen Hanebrink said. "They considered themselves boyfriend and girlfriend."
Hanebrink said Zeltman bought a car for the girl when she was 15.
She now knows the relationship was wrong because of the differences in their ages and knows Zeltman needs to go to prison, Hanebrink said, but she doesn't think it should be for long.
Zeltman faced up to 20 years in prison. On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty before Circuit Judge Edward Cottingham for a lesser sentence. It was about seven months after he initially was scheduled for trial. Zeltman fled to Indonesia to avoid prosecution.
While there, he survived a tsunami in December but in February was tracked down by U.S. marshals in Bali. Zeltman ran because he was worried about being held in maximum security, Barbara Pratt, his attorney, said during his plea hearing.
"This is a very serious matter," Cottingham said. "To keep the family and the victim from reliving all this in a trial, I agreed to the guilty plea."
He said Zeltman will have to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence.
Hanebrink said she hoped for a stiffer sentence but considers the six-year sentence fair.
The girl's father, who also is not being identified to avoid identifying her, told the court that he thought his daughter was confused when she was 14.
"[Zeltman] came to us as a family friend and promised he was helping to look out for our daughter," the girl's father said. "He had all the parents and teachers fooled."
Prosecutors said Zeltman and the girl had sex regularly, including on school property. At least one student once caught the two involved in a sex act, Hanebrink said.
The allegations of sexual misconduct against Zeltman left students at North Myrtle Beach High "shocked and disappointed," the school's principal said earlier this year.
Zeltman was a drama teacher at North Myrtle Beach High for two years before his arrest. Before that, he worked at South Columbus High School in the Columbus County, N.C., School District.
His relationship with his victim began with flirting, Hanebrink said.
As the relationship progressed, the girl would stay late after drama events to be with Zeltman. After it became sexual, they had sex anywhere they could, she said.
At one point in the relationship, the girl became bothered when she learned Zeltman had represented himself to be about 10 years younger than he is, but she accepted it, Hanebrink said.
They were planning to marry and had picked names for children they planned to have, she said.
Zeltman bought the girl a Chrysler PT Cruiser, which she sometimes drove with him, Hanebrink said.
She never took the car home but instead parked it near her house then walked home, Hanebrick said.
It's unclear what happened to the car, but Hanebrink said it was in Zeltman's name and payments likely stopped when he fled the country. Contact KENNETH A. GAILLIARD at 626-0312 or kgailliard@thesunnews.com.
could you please try to be a little more ridiculous ?>>>>
Don't be too critical, I thought he was already doing a fine job of it ( : < )
LOL! What a freak.
The girl and her parents ought to share some of the blame . These days 14 year old girls know exactly what they are doing when it comes to sex . I know there are laws , and I am not condoning what the teacher did , however , it takes two to tango , and the parents even admit the kid was confused . Perhaps the parents' fault ?
This never would have been prosecuted if the teacher had been female. Where is Johnny Cochran when you need him? "If it is gay, it is OK."
NAMGLA checking in?
I believe we should go and find the prison sentences of all the women teachers who have had sex with 14 year old boys, find out how much time they have served and sentence this man to the Maximum time those women have served.
When the roles are reversed there is a wink and a knowing nod, the culprit gets a slap on the wrist and all the hero guys feel cheated.
Is your name Zeltman??? Or are you just another braggart buffoon????
Actually, he's not that far off..
I'm only about 10 years removed from Jr. High.. There were definently many 14 and 15 year olds having sex.. Most of them with older students in either high school or out of high school.
In the 9th grade there was one girl who already had a kid and was pregnant with another.
This in the red parts of Pennsylvania. It's happening..
This is nothing new. Back in the 70's our coach began having sex with a 12 year old girl. Back then, there was no such thing as filing charges and everyone rolled their eyes. The relationship lasted for years, they eventually married when she was in her 20's, they had kids, and finally divorced. We also had a female teacher who gave, um, private instruction to the boys. Nothing was done about that situation either. I'm not condoning this, just stating all the media jumping on every incident with teachers and boy scout leaders is nothing new.
What a freak.
This behavior differs from practices in other cultures where young girls married old men. This teacher offered the girl no honor, permanent security, or environment in which to raise a family.
I doubt it ... but you never know. The question is interesting to me, though, because the "much-older man" dynamic is popular in movies and TV. Sean Connery in his 70's with women in their 20's, for example. A "thing" with an older man is presented as desirable.
Young girls are easily influenced by pop culture. In fact, young girls are easily influenced by just about *anything*, which is one reason they should be protected by adults, not used by adults. I have a 14-year-old daughter; I know what she and her friends are like. I don't care how physically-adult they seem - they are two tacos short of a combination plate, judgment-wise.
And lest I seem to be male-bashing, I would substitute "boys" for "girls" anywhere in my comments.
When they appear, and they are always the same posters, one has to wonder how they actually manage in open society.
I have never seen any females here wailing because they missed the opportunity of having a much older male teacher show them the ways of the world.
Neither have I. They probably don't look back too fondly on sexual activity with teenage boys, either. Promiscuity is a losing proposition for girls, even if they don't realize it until it's too late.
Ordinarily, I might say, "Welcome to FR".....
I'm sure that plenty of middle-aged men enjoy looking at pretty teenaged girls, and I know that teenaged girls will test boundaries by flirting.
But if the line is crossed, it's the girl who is prey, and the adult male who is the predator.
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