Posted on 05/16/2011 9:30:17 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
ARLINGTON — A suburban North Texas high school teacher has been accused of having sex with five 18-year-old students at her home and was released on bond Monday.
Brittni Nicole Colleps, an English teacher at Kennedale High School, is charged with five counts of having an inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher — a second-degree felony. It is a criminal offense for teachers to have sex with a primary or secondary school student, no matter the student’s age. A conviction carries a penalty of anywhere from two years to 20 years in prison per count.
The Arlington woman was booked into the city jail after turning herself in Monday morning and posted a $125,000 bond for her release that afternoon, police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard told The Associated Press.
A telephone message left at Colleps’ home was not returned.
Authorities allege Colleps, 27, had sex with the students at her home over the past two months. Arlington authorities began investigating the allegations after hearing about them from school staff and Kennedale police on May 11.
During the investigation, Arlington detectives learned that Colleps and students had exchanged text messages that included sexually explicit pictures, Richard said. Students also told detectives of having sex at the teacher’s home.
Kennedale school Superintendent Gary Dugger told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that school officials learned about it Tuesday night and by Wednesday afternoon had gone to police.
Tarrant County records show Colleps has been married for seven years, the Star-Telegram reported.
Aside from being a first-year English teacher, Colleps coached the freshman girls’ basketball team.
She was placed on paid administrative leave until the end of the school year, said Mike Leasor, attorney for the Kennedale school system. Colleps had resigned her teaching contract in April, before the scandal came to light, Leasor said.
Kennedale is a town of about 7,300 residents near Arlington eight miles southeast of Fort Worth. The high school has about 3,200 students.
The school could have students from a number of towns. That’s the way we do it here.
Ah, did not know that. It does sound like that is an unconstitutional law though. Not sure you can make it legal to have sex with an 18 year old but not if you are a teacher.
Sounds very likely to be overturned to me...
Strange Texas law - and I’m in Texas.
Well it’s also illegal for brothers and sisters to have sex regardless of age. Should that restriction also be repealed?
It has something to do with “power”. If someone is in a position of authority, in govt., then it’s illegal, regardless of age. Sounds a bit silly to me too.
Really? Comparing genetic relationships with casual relationships and you concur?
Well, at least you have a reasonable reason... I doubt that it would stand up to the Supreme Court though. Way too tenuous, especially if she was not actually teaching them.
Actually, this would be a problem for professors in college if this stood. Seems to be rather problematic there...heh.
It is a felony because the legislature made it a felony. That is all the law means, ie it was passed by a legislature.
Now I understand your point, but consider the continuum:
1. A person has sex with an 18 year old they have no relationship with.
2. A person has sex with an 18 year old employee.
3. A teacher has sex with an 18 year old student.
4. A prison guard has sex with an 18 year old prisoner.
To me 4 is clearly a coercive situation and 1 is no one’s business but the parties involved. So the question is should 2 or 3 be a be a crime?
There are and should be more taboos about sex than just age, orientation, and incest.
She also committed adultry. I think no fault divorce should only be allowed when both parties agree to it. I think her husband should divorce her on grounds of adultry.
Yikes, why would they hire a really ugly man for that job??
These people are put into positions of public trust and authority and they abuse it.
They should be shot.
I beg to differ that girls are different than boys regarding sharing the locker room showers with homosexuals who make passes at them. I might have quit the team if that had happened to me. As I was on the track team at a fairly conservative Baptist college the chances of that happening were slim to none.
IMO certain sports have higher numbers of lesbians in them than others. Softball would be high on the list while gymnastics would be at the bottom.
While her photo says guilty, the charges are false and should be dropped, 5 eighteen year old students means she may be ugly and she may be stupid but the are legal age and the charages should not have even been filed.
It is a problem even if it isn't covered by this law. College and university faculty can be fired even if tenured for having sexual relationships with students in their classes.
They may be of legal age, but it violates Texas law for a teacher to have sex with any primary or secondary student, especially a student from the same school at which the teacher works. There are more restrictions on sex than just age of consent. I can't believe I have to explain this on a conservative website!
Another lesbian high school coach considering your daughters part of her sexual menu.
All male and female sex offenders that are known 100% guilty ought to be dispatched with one shot to the head. Tired of this bullsh1t. Tired of teachers treating students as their sexual gratification playtoys.
They should be dieselboarded first.
None of your examples should be a crime. Of course the legislature of a State can make it a crime, but it does have to meet Constitutional merits which I don’t think they do.
Making sex a felony under specific circumstances but not regarding age or power seems to be arbitrary to me and simply up to the particular State. That alone should make you think about it.
It is only a felony (if State law says so) until someone brings the case to the Supreme Court and it is overturned (Unfortunately way too many laws have to go that route to be overturned). That is our system, slow but eventually seems to work things out accurately (usually)...
Logic does seem to me that any felony should pertain to an action - not an action if...
Of course I could and am often wrong, but logic would seem to support me...
Ah... BIG difference between a felony and firing for improper action! For that I would agree...
Perhaps you would be more comfortable posting your opinions on DU.
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