James Parker, 32, was arrested Wednesday for allegedly being "sexually involved" with a former student, a female, under the age of 19. Parker's wife, Charli was arrested Monday for having a sexual relationship with a male student.
On Tuesday, the 30-year-old woman was charged with 11 counts of engaging in a sexual act with a student under the age of 19, court documents said the relationship lasted from October 2014 to March 2016, the Birmingham News reported.
James and Charli Parker were both teachers and basketball coaches at the private Christian school in Carrollton, but District Attorney Chris McCool said the incidents are not related:
"The incidents are separate and unrelated in place of manner of commission. None of the criminal sexual activity occurred at the school," he said.Headmaster of Pickens Academy released a statement following the second arrest and asked for "prayers":
"The primary concern of Pickens Academy is the safety of our students. Pickens Academy is very upset about the allegations against our employee. The employee will be suspended immediately and further action may be taken upon investigation. I request prayers for our school family and for all families involved."
Comment: Suspended? Why not fired?
The arrests come one week after a bill was proposed that would require Alabama teachers to undergo one hour of training per year on ‒ among other things ‒ sexual or romantic contact in the classroom.
The Alabama State Department of Education said there have been nearly 200 investigations into inappropriate interactions between teachers and students since 2011 in Alabama alone. The former chief of staff at the US Department of Education, Terry Abbott, called Alabama "ground zero" for the problem, saying the situation is an "epidemic":
"Too many districts in Alabama and elsewhere have no policy prohibiting secret electronic communication between teachers and students. That's a highway to hell", said Abbott, according to WBRC.com.An investigation is ongoing. If convicted the Parkers face up to 20 years in prison.
...between consensual sex and a "rape" victim. Rape is statutory meaning that sex with someone (under 19 in this case) is considered rape (period). This is regardless of consent. The age of consent varies from state to state. So in some states sex with someone under 19 is "rape" where as sex with someone under 17 in another state is not considered "rape". A problem with this article is that it attempts to make you outraged with consensual sex to the same degree as actual rape (without consent).
So for example (probably not the case here but likely does happen), a 16 year old student engages in seducing their teacher including coercion. The teacher capitulates out of fear and they have a sexual relationship. Strangely by the meaning of "statutory" the "victim" is the student who did the coercion and the teacher who was the true "victim" faces jail time.
When looking into this phenomenon it does not appear that there is a epidemic increase in statutory rape. But instead increased prosecution of statutory rape cases. The driver is increased litigation and encouragement of "see something say something" reporting. In this case a different person reported the incident to the school which then passed on the information to the police for prosecution. In a less hysterized population there is less reporting of your neighbors to "authorities". And statements like: "I was just doing what I am told. They looked suspicious so I told my local Gestapo/police. Its not my fault they were put in a concentration camp/private prison. I didn't do anything wrong." happen much less.
The problems of sex trafficking and pedophilia at high levels of government is different from statutory rape. This article (and comments) fail to appreciate those differences.