Teacher Fights Sex Statute Says Relationships With Students Over 16 A Privacy Right

Hartford Courant ^ | 5-27-06 | MATT BURGARD

[xsmommy]

naughty teacher ping. oops, wrong gender ; )

[Bluegrass Conservative]

I've never understood the statutes that punish teachers for having sex with students . . . even if the students aren't in that teacher's class. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, but I think the person has a point. The age of consent is the age of consent. End of story.

[Brilliant]

"Others disagree."




Exactly. Some think it should be 12 years old. Some say 6. And even if it were 6, some would claim that they thought the 5 year old was actually 6.

[Antoninus]

A former high school teacher facing sexual assault charges says his arrest on suspicion of having sexual relations with a student violates a fundamental right guaranteed by both the state and federal constitutions.

Can't wait to see the liberal-tarians come out and defend this guy...

[atomicpossum]

Sometimes, the snake of liberal standards starts to swallow its own tail.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Isn't the age of consent when people of similar age can marry?

Statutory rape laws are on top of this and is not mutually exclusive; they are meant to prevent adults taking advantage of immature people - like teenagers.

[Jeff Head]

If someone like Mr. Glasser had tried this with on of my daughters...or tries it in the future with one of my granddaughters...he will find out just exactly where his "so-called" right ends, and where my right to protect my family with deadly force begins.

Sorry...but arguements like this really make my blood boil. IMHO, it's just a criminal trying to rationalize his behavior...nothing more.

[theDentist]

As a teacher he is also a legal custodian of the minor child. "Inloco parentis" is the legal term I believe. As long as they have an official capacity for her welfare, such an affair would violate his legal constraints.

BUT I'm not a lawyer, so I may be partly wrong or completely wrong.

[Bluegrass Conservative]

Isn't the age of consent when people of similar age can marry?

The age of consent is the age that you can legally give consent to sexual activity. Once you hit that age, statutory rape is out the window.

[LetsRok]

I would defend him. This is no different than an employer trying to hook up with an intern. If the person is of legal age, then so be it. What good is an "age of consent" if it does not mean that.

[Clioman]

"...by the middle of April, she began spending the night at his apartment."

Should this teacher be in jail? Of course. What I want to know is, why isn't this child's PARENT in jail?

[camle]

hmm... as much as I disapprove of teacher/student fraternizing, i've always had problems with laws that subject the rights one enjoys to their occupation.

either we're all equal or not. if sex with a 16 yo is bad, then ban it (as Rush would say).

[Little Ray]

Wrong. Its the same issue as sexual harassment. The teacher is abusing his authority.

[Yo-Yo]

I've never understood the statutes that punish teachers for having sex with students . . . even if the students aren't in that teacher's class. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, but I think the person has a point.

I'm not saying it's right either, but an analogy would be that someone could be found guilty of sexual harassment if they were a work supervisor and had relations with someone who was an employee, even if the employee worked for an entirely different company.

[MHGinTN]

"... contends that the statute is inconsistent with years of legal precedent upholding the constitutional right to privacy." I see, so the right to hire the killing of an alive unborn child isn't far enough to stretch 'right to privacy', now it must be stretched to practice in conceiving the children to decide life or death over. Has this fool thought about what his plea will mean to the relationship between one in authority and one under authority? P-U what a maroon.

[Osage Orange]

Many groups in Europe..and I'm sure here are advocating that the age of consent be lowered to as low as 8 years of age.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Agree. After throwing down all restraints by lauding and encouraging homosexuality now they want to raise the flag here? Absurd.

[Antoninus]

I would defend him. This is no different than an employer trying to hook up with an intern. If the person is of legal age, then so be it. What good is an "age of consent" if it does not mean that.

You're saying that a state or local government doesn't have the right to set laws that go beyond the "age of consent"? I have no problem with a state law that says that a teacher may not engage in intercourse with his student. You may not like the law, but to argue that it's unconstitutional is to say that we don't have the right to govern ourselves at the local level.

[Arthalion]

Heh, I agree with the guy and hope he wins. If the age of consent in Connecticut is 16, it's perfectly legal for you, I, or five of our closest friends to have sex with a 16 year old girl. I'm not saying it's right, moral, or something that should be promoted, but it's certainly legal. If you don't want 29 year olds having sex with 16 year olds in Hartford, change the consent law.

This guy is being penalized not because of his action, but because of his job. Why is it legal for a 29 year old construction worker to sleep with a 16 year old, but not a 29 year old teacher? Privacy rights aside, it seems to utterly fail the constitutional equal protection clauses. The state cannot suspend your rights, including your right to free association, simply because of your employment status.

If you don't want 29 year old teachers to sleep with 16 year old girls, make it illegal for 29 year olds to sleep with 16 year olds. If you want to keep the age of consent at 16, you're going to have to deal with the reality that these types of situations are going to crop up, and deal with the repercussions at a school level (fire teachers who sleep with their own students, for example).