An inclusion helper at Bel Air (Md.) High School has been charged in connection with an alleged sexual relationship he had with a 16-year-old female student, WBAL-TV (NBC affiliate) reports.
Harford County authorities have charged Anthony Leon Farris, 24, with sex abuse of a minor, fourth-degree sex offense, and perverted practice. The sex allegedly took place over a four-month period between September and December 2012 in the office at the high school, the Baltimore Sun reported, citing charging documents. The student was 16 when the alleged abuse took place and has since turned 17.
Just two weeks ago, another inclusion helper in Harford County was charged in connection with an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship with a 15-year-old male student. Amanda Kay Miller, 35, an employee at North Harford High School, was charged in that incident. A media release from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office said she had been charged with sexual abuse of a minor, third-degree sex offense, and two counts of fourth-degree sex offense.
Inclusion helpers are like teacher’s aides. They work with special-needs children, helping them work and learn in regular classrooms, hence the name “inclusion.”
Follow-up in Harford County
School officials didn’t send any letters home about these incidents, but the schools have taken action. Ms Miller is on administrative leave, while Mr Farris has been dismissed.
Of course, the schools run background and fingerprinting checks before hiring anyone, but it’s very difficult to evaluate someone’s chances of taking advantage of their position of authority and sexually assaulting a student.
Age of consent laws for teens
Laws on this type of behavior vary from state to state. The age of consent in Maryland is 16, so 16-year-olds may legally consent to sex. In Illinois, the age of consent is 17. In many states, including Maryland, there’s also an age-gap provision that allows consent by minors, provided the two people are close in age. In addition, some states—but not Maryland or Illinois—allow the so-called “age mistake” defense, where a defendant would be found not guilty upon proving the minor misrepresented his or her age.
In most US states, the age of consent is automatically 18 whenever one person has a position of authority over another, such as a teacher over a student or a doctor over a patient. This provision applies in both Maryland and Illinois.
So, what this means is that a 30-year-old teacher who has consensual sex with an 18-year-old student couldn’t be charged with a crime anywhere in America. But that teacher should be fired and should probably try to stay away from schools. I don’t know what’s in the water in Harford County, but students need to make it known that they’re in school to learn, not to pick up a husband, wife, or one-night stand. At least I hope that’s the case.
I’m not so naïve to think that all sex grows out of loving relationships or that predators feel any real love for their victims, now or ever. But the fact is, students are a captive audience: they really have no other choice but to be in school. When a woman goes with a friend to a bar, that’s one thing. One can presume and then test that she’s there to meet people for possible relationships. This is not the case in schools, and people who can’t figure that out need to remove themselves from schools permanently. I just wish there were some test we could give people to see if they can tell the difference between a student who is really connecting with them as a teacher and a person in a singles bar who is testing the waters of a possible relationship. But so far, we don’t have anything.
Finally, some people argue that this type of crime doesn’t really hurt anybody, and from a physical perspective, I guess that’s pretty accurate. But as most people know, there’s a lot more to students in a school building than just their physical safety. There’s also the “social intelligence” factor, and harm is definitely caused to that, not just for the victim but for others who may have felt a connection with the perpetrator.
