Florida House Bill 485 and Senate Bill 698 would increase potential penalties for various crimes when an education authority figure over the age of 18 – including teachers, coaches, counselors and volunteers – sexually victimizes students under the age of 18.
Lewd and lascivious battery is currently a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years, for example, but would be upgraded to a first-degree felony with a potential 30-year prison sentence for education figures. Third-degree felony molestation, which currently carries a five-year prison sentence, would turn into a second-degree felony with a maximum 15-year prison sentence for educators, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
The idea for tougher penalties for pedophile educators came from students at Armwood High School in Hillsborough County participating in an “It Ought to be a Law” program, according to the news site.
“It’s disturbing; we’ve seen it across the state,” Rep. Jake Raburn, sponsor of the bill, said of the problem with teachers sexually abusing students in recent years. “Parents trust teachers, kids trust teachers and to have these individuals preying on our children is unbelievable.”
Across the country teachers are arrested literally every day for inappropriate sexual relationships with students. U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey released a statement recently citing at least 130 such cases in the United States so far this year. (more...)
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