Bentonville teacher accused of having sex with student

KFSM News 5 ^ | 2/18/08 | Mary Marsh

[day10]

BENTONVILLE - A Bentonville High School math teacher is behind bars after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a student.

Bentonville police arrested 32-year-old Melissa Monroe of Bella Vista Tuesday, after an investigation led them to believe Monroe had recently been involved in a sexual relationship with one of her male students.

Bentonville Police Chief James Allen explains, "She had texted another teacher, you know, the thing about, 'I can't believe the mistake I've made,' and 'you won't believe what I've done.'"

Based on text messages Monroe sent to a fellow teacher, Bentonville police say Monroe may have planned the incident. They say she did provide the minor with alcohol during the encounter, which occurred at Monroe's Bella Vista home.

Chief Allen says, "This happened to be on a date back in late January, which, uh, happened to be the boy's 18th birthday."

Bentonville High School Principal Steve Jacoby says he and the faculty were stunned by the news of the teacher-student relationship. "They were shocked. They were disappointed. There were tears, because she was a well-respected faculty member here on campus."

Jacoby says he's never had anything like this happen before. "This is my 38th year, and this is the first incident of this magnitude that I've been involved in."

Allen says situations like this make it hard for other teachers, trying to do their job. "They're playing with, not only their career, but their life, marriages. All that goes out the window when criminal behavior like this takes place. This is just a black eye on all those good teachers who are out there doing their job."

Monroe is facing charges of a Class B Felony for sexual assault, as well as knowingly giving alcohol to a minor, a Class C Misdemeanor. If convicted, she will face from 5 to 20 years in prison.

[gridlock]

I’m going to go with Not Guilty on this one, as well. Not as enthusiastically as the other teacher today. But definitely she falls onto the Not Guilty side.

[TruthWillWin]

DSL?

I'm wondering also. Obviously not a high speed internet connection.

[3Lean]

Even though there may be cases where the two are consenting, the point of the law is to protect students who have a significant lack of power in this situation. She has the ability to pass (or fail) him and the fact that her decision may be influenced by his “performance” outside the classroom (between the sheets) places the students in a very vulnerable situation.
I wonder what the reaction would be if she were grossly overweight and in her 60’s... Or maybe if the genders were reversed and the teacher was a 30-something male pressuring an 18 year-old girl/woman...
This is no different from sexual harrassment at work between a boss and his direct report - the power differential is too great to assume “consensual” sex. Note that I’m not talking about a dirty joke here or a calendar hanging on the wall, the law was passed to protect students (most likely female students) from being coerced into sex with teachers who have a significant effect on their future.