MONTGOMERY — Alabama students are not being fully protected from predatory teachers because the state's laws on inappropriate relationships are too weak, an education watchdog group said Monday.
The Birmingham-based group, Citizens for Better Schools, is calling on state and education officials to strengthen laws and make such relationships a criminal matter even if the student is 16, the state's age of consent, or older.
Teachers can face a variety of charges when caught in such relationships with students younger than 16, including carnal knowledge of a minor, but criminal options drop significantly once students are 16.
"We need to close the 'carnal knowledge' loophole that gives these predators a 'sweet 16' in Alabama," Ronald Jackson, the group's executive director, said at a news conference in downtown Montgomery.
He said Alabama law is "archaic" and should be changed to make it a crime for teachers to have sexual relations with any student in Alabama schools regardless of age.
Jackson said the group got involved when it was contacted two weeks ago by a woman who said a 38-year-old Advanced Placement history teacher had an inappropriate relationship with her 17-year-old son, a student of the teacher.
He said the Birmingham school board allowed the teacher to resign but no criminal charges have been filed.
A call to Birmingham City Schools attorney Afrika Parchman was not immediately returned Monday.
The group has sent e-mails and letters to legislators and State Superintendent Joe Morton and has hired a law firm to help write legislation to change the law.
Douglas Davis, chief deputy district attorney for Jefferson County, said there's only so much that can be done in cases where the victim is 16 or older.
"You can consent to sex at 16 in Alabama. There can be some administrative punishment for the teacher, but criminally there's not a whole lot," he said.
Davis said teachers are sometimes charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor if truancy or some other delinquent act occurred, but it can be a gray area.
"What is the delinquent act?" he said. "Is a 16-year-old having sex a delinquent act? Some would say yes, but that's the age of consent. It's sort of like a 'Catch 22,' isn't it?"
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