Should there be a penalty for such a relationship? Yes.
Sexual assault on a CONSENTING ADULT? I think not.
All right. I concede that this is not sexual assault.
I am just getting so tired of reading stories about teachers that are goofing around with their students. Is it really that difficult to find someone your own age, and who is not sitting at a desk in your classroom?
Arkansas Code 5-14-103. Sexual Assault Second Degree:
(A) A person commits sexual assault in the second degree if the person:
...
(5) Is a teacher in a public school in grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12) and engages in sexual contact with another person who is a student enrolled in the school and who is less than twenty-one (21) years of age;
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.