Sex abuse by women stirs debate -- May 12, 2002
This Associated Press story was found in the Contra Costa Times. Few newspapers appear to have picked it up. Hofstra University professor Charol Shakeshaft has spent 15 years researching and leading workshops about sexual abuse in school, says such cases are underreported because boys "live in a culture in which they're supposed to view it as a conquest." Her research found that 15 percent of students will experience some kind of sex abuse or harassment by a school staff member. Only 4 percent of those students will be abused by a female teacher; 96 percent are abused by men.
High-profile cases cited: in Carmel, Ind., an affluent suburb of Indianapolis, the school district is making talk about teacher-student sexual relations part of the curriculum after three high-profile cases last year, says Barb Underwood, Carmel Clay Schools superintendent.
In Las Vegas, a female Clark County School District teacher recently pleaded guilty to having sex with a 16-year-old special education student. Carolyn Ann Wilson, 40, was the 10th school district employee accused of sexual misconduct in a little more than a year, [bolding mine] but the first female employee. ""If priests can be doing this for 12 years in a church, maybe it's possible people in other positions can be doing this, and we better be looking at it," Shoop says.
Exactly.
