The reaction to the comedy sketch reflected a growing view among
law enforcement and victims' advocacy groups that it is no laughing
matter when a woman educator preys on her male students.
In U.S. schools last year, almost 800 school employees were
prosecuted for sexual assault, nearly a third of them women. The
proportion of women facing charges seems to be higher than in years
past, when female teachers often got a pass, said Terry Abbott, a
former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education, who
tracked the cases.
This year's numbers are already slightly ahead of last year with 26
cases of female school employees accused of inappropriate
relationships with male students in January compared to 19 cases the
previous January.
Female educators who sexually abuse their students are facing
tougher prosecution in part because there are more women police
officers. There is also a greater awareness among prosecutors,
judges and the general public that students who are victimized by an
authority figure, regardless of gender, experience trauma with
life-long consequences.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Apr/21/images/ads/current/beason_ag_sda_030614.png) "Law enforcement is increasingly feminized, and women are much less
prone to the old attitude: 'Oh, this is just some kid who got
lucky,'" said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against
Children Research Center. "They recognize the issues involved and
they go after women who violate the statutes."
Depression, low-self esteem and difficulty maintaining future
relationships are among the long-term consequences that male victims
face, according to experts. Those problems are sometimes compounded
by confusion and guilt over whether they are actually victims since
their adolescent bodies involuntarily respond to physical contact.
'SEISMIC SHIFTS'
Child abuse experts agree it appears female teachers are being
prosecuted more vigorously than in the past.
The crackdown is the result of "two seismic shifts," said
Christopher Anderson, executive director of Male Survivor, the
largest U.S. advocacy organization for male sex-crime victims.
"One is a recognition that it does not matter who the perpetrator is
or what the circumstances are. A teacher has absolutely no business
engaging in sexual contact with a student," Anderson said. "The
second is a shift in the culture where boys and their parents are
feeling empowered to come forward to say that something has been
done."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Apr/21/images/ads/current/pest_control_bch_092414.png) In recent weeks, a Stamford, Connecticut high school English
teacher, Danielle Watkins, 32, whose case was prosecuted by a female
state's attorney, was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for
having sex with an underage male student.
In Michigan, a female judge sentenced Madison High Spanish teacher
Kathryn Ronk, 30, to up to 15 years in prison for having a sexual
relationship with a 15-year-old boy, saying "the law does not
recognize a double standard."
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In New Jersey, a female prosecutor said the most lenient plea deal
she would offer Nicole Dufault, 35, a Columbia High School English
teacher accused of sexual relationships with six teenage boys, was
15 years in prison.
There are contrary examples, such as Pennsylvania's Erica Ann
Ginnetti, 35, the Lower Moreland High School math teacher who had
sex with a 17-year-old student and was sentenced to 30 days in jail
by a male judge who said, "What young man would not jump on that
candy?"
That was after a female prosecutor reportedly said in court that the
victim's senior year became a nightmare, his grades plunged and he
still struggles with social interactions.
But the Twitter furor ignited by the April "SNL" skit in which a
male judge fist-bumps a boy who had sex with his "hot" teacher
indicates how attitudes are changing.
"Appalled by the #SNL sketch glorifying sexual abuse of a male
student by female teacher. Sends the worst message &minimizes real
experiences," tweeted Heather Timmis @hnt108.
An SNL spokesperson declined to comment.
There is no central U.S. reporting system for tracking female
teachers who prey on male students, according to federal education
officials, but Abbott has been charting the crimes from news
coverage. His research showed that female teachers far more often
than male teachers use social media to lure students, creating an
electronic "paper trail" that may aid prosecutions.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Apr/21/images/ads/current/remington_daily_sda_022614.png)
School districts are increasingly moving to ban private social media
contact between teachers and students, sometimes in an effort to
prevent inappropriate relationships.
"Social media enables the behavior to start," Abbott said. "There is
no way that a teacher is going to walk up to a kid in the hallway
and say, 'Hey, would you like to see a naked picture of me?' They
won't do it. But they will do that on social media. It's like it
erases what used to be that barrier."
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Scott Malone and Andrew
Hay)
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