Teacher–Student Sexual Relationships: The Role of Age, Gender, and Multiple Victims on Incarceration and Registration Outcomes

Abstract

Minimal research has examined sentencing outcomes in teacher–student sexual abuse cases, while the research that has been conducted has primarily focused on gender and attractiveness. Furthermore, the body of literature examining how gender affects sentencing has contradictory findings. Age of the victim and number of victims may also play a role in sentencing outcomes. The current study aimed to better understand which factors (by examining how gender of the victim and defendant, age of the victim and defendant, and having multiple victims) are associated with sentencing outcomes in cases where teachers engage in inappropriate sexual relationships with students. The sentencing outcomes that were assessed include length of incarceration, likelihood of having to register as a sexual offender, and likelihood of being incarcerated. The current study reviewed 250 cases that were covered in the media between 2008 and 2010 that involved a defendant who was accused of sexual contact with a student whom they had contact with through their role as an educator or school staff member. Results indicate that defendant age, victim age, and whether there was one or multiple victims had significant implications for sentencing outcomes. An increase in victim age was associated with a decreased likelihood of incarceration, shorter incarceration lengths, and a decreased likelihood to be required to register as a sexual offender. An increase in defendant age was also associated with increased likelihood of incarceration. Furthermore, having multiple victims was associated with increased incarceration lengths. This study has implications for school policies and teacher training specific to building appropriate relationships and boundaries with students. Given the rise in reporting of sexual abuse cases between teachers and their students, implementing more comprehensive ethics training is paramount.

How Do Gender, Sexuality, and Age Impact Perceptions of Teacher Sexual Misconduct? An Intersectional Vignette-Based Study

“…Based on previous research (Hernandez et al, 2019; Knoche & Russell, 2019; Patrick & Marsh, 2011), we expected age to relate to more negative perceptions. We confirmed that age impacts perceptions, such that when the teacher is older the respondents perceived the teacher as being more responsible for the relationship.…”

“…Notably, the related term teacher-student sexual relationship (see Howell et al, 2011; Knoche & Russell, 2019) has been used throughout the literature when referring to similar scenarios. While this term may be appropriate in certain contexts, we do not use it here because it implies that teacher sexual misconduct may be a “relationship” like any other and because our vignettes explicitly describe the sexual contact between the fictional teacher and student as illegal.…”

“…Victim age has also been shown to influence sentencing outcomes, such that the abuse of younger victims tends to result in harsher sentencing in child sexual abuse cases (Faller et al, 2006; Lewis et al, 2014; Patrick & Marsh, 2011). For example, one study assessing sentencing outcomes of teacher student sexual relationship cases found that increases in victim age are associated with decreases in incarceration length (Knoche & Russell, 2019). Perceptions of the victim may also be impacted by their age, such that younger victims in adolescent sexual abuse cases may be perceived as more credible, honest, and trustworthy in comparison to older victims (Bottoms et al, 2004).…”

“…Increases in teacher age have been related to increased ratings of perceived wrongness and likelihood of reporting the situation (Hernandez et al, 2019). Thus, increases in offender age may increase the likelihood of the teacher being incarcerated (Knoche & Russell, 2019) and also increase sentencing length (Patrick & Marsh, 2011). To our knowledge, there are no existing studies that specifically investigate the influence of teacher age, alone, on perceptions in teacher sexual misconduct cases, much less through an intersectional lens combining age with gender and sexuality.…”