Age limit for teacher misconduct reconsidered

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By DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP Associated Press Writer

Summary

A proposal to toughen and clarify state law concerning sexual misconduct by school employees could force teachers, janitors and bus drivers to register as sex offenders if they are found guilty of having sex with students who are considered adults by some state statutes.

Story Published: Jan 28, 2009 at 7:58 PM PST

Age limit for teacher misconduct reconsidered
SEATTLE (AP) - A proposal to toughen and clarify state law concerning sexual misconduct by school employees could force teachers, janitors and bus drivers to register as sex offenders if they are found guilty of having sex with students who are considered adults by some state statutes.

House Bill 1385, which had a hearing before the House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee on Wednesday, would also apply to a foster parent who has sexual intercourse with his or her foster child who is at least 16.

The bill was proposed in response to a recent court decision that found existing law to be unclear concerning teacher sex abuse of students between the ages of 16 and 20.

The bill would also clarify sexual misconduct with a minor in the second degree, which involves sexual conduct that does not include intercourse.

Rep. Larry Haler, R-Richland, the bill's primary sponsor, said he hopes it will be passed out of committee and heard on the House floor by next week.

A three-judge panel of the Washington Court of Appeals ruled earlier this month that Washington state law does not bar teachers from having consensual sex with 18-year-old students.

The case involved a teacher, Matthew Hirschfelder, who was charged with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor and accused of having sex with a graduating senior, who was 18. The appeals court said the law was vaguely written and the judges felt that lawmakers only intended to criminalize contact between teachers and 16- or 17-year-old students.

Hirschfelder, at the time a 33-year-old Hoquiam High School choir teacher, denies any sexual relationship occurred. His case did not go to trial because it was stayed pending the appeals court ruling.

Haler said his bill is intended to clarify that lawmakers do want to criminalize contact involving teachers or other school employees and students between the ages of 16 and 20.

"We reasonably, as taxpayers and parents, expect that our children and students, when they go to school, are safe regardless of age," he said.

State law already establishes penalties for teachers who sexually abuse their students, no matter what their age, testified Wade Samuelson, an attorney speaking for the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and another criminal defense group.

He called the bill unnecessary because the possibility of losing a job and a teaching license should be enough to stop an abuser.

"Let the existing criminal law punish the inappropriate relationships with minor students ... allow the regulatory process to handle relationships between adult students and school employees," Samuelson said. "It's unfortunate. It's wrong. But it shouldn't be criminalized."

Rep. Al O'Brien, D-Mountlake Terrace, corrected Samuelson, saying not all bad teachers are being punished, with some just being passed from one school district to another. He said ample cases are reported in newspapers concerning the situations covered in this legislation.

The Associated Press found in a 2007 investigation that 125 Washington teachers had lost their licenses or had their licenses suspended for sexual misconduct over a five-year period and several were passed along to a second school district before state disciplinary action began.