Improper Relationship Between Educator and Student

(Or when is a cigar not simply a cigar?)

I want to start this article with a true story with a happy ending.  

In the early 1970s, when I was a high school student in a small town in central Texas, a young football coach and math teacher was hired by our school. In his first year as a teacher and coach, he met and fell in love with one of his students – a senior class coed in one of his math classes. She was 18 years old, a good student, pretty, popular, and from a prominent local family. 

The coach was very popular as well. Everyone liked him. He was a recent college graduate who was only a few years older than the students he taught and the boys he coached on the football team. The students and the football team viewed him as someone who could have been their older brother. 

His relationship with the coed was no secret around the school. The coach and the coed did not try to hide their feelings for each other. They would frequently attend parties and other functions together as a couple. In that day and time, we students all thought the relationship was unusual, but no one thought it was inappropriate. 

Later that year, after the coed graduated, the two of them got married. They lived happily together as husband and wife for over 40 years until the coach, unfortunately, passed away from an extended illness.  

End of story.

This happy story is not an isolated event. Many of you who are old enough to be around during that era may be able to remember similar events that happened in your school. 

But make no mistake: this story could not have happened in today’s society. If it did, this fine young coach and future husband of 40 years would have been arrested, taken to jail, prosecuted, and likely sent to the state penitentiary for a very long period of time. Furthermore, the coach’s pretty young coed and future wife would have been deemed a “crime victim,” even though, in her eyes, nothing could have been further from the truth. The reason is that in 2003, the Texas legislature enacted a law that made this relationship illegal. 

Subject to a few rare exceptions, Article 21.12 of the Texas Penal Code makes it a crime for a teacher or any other employee of a public or private primary or secondary school to engage in sexual contact or have a sexual relationship with a student enrolled in a primary or secondary school at which the employee works. The law broadly applies to any employee and student in the same school or district. It also applies to an educator having an improper relationship with a student who participates in any activity sponsored by the educator’s school or school district. 

Also, be aware that this type of relationship is a crime even if the student involved is otherwise over the legal age of consent (17 years in Texas) and if the contact between teacher and student happens entirely off campus. 

This offense, called Improper Relationship Between Educator and Student, is a second-degree felony with a penalty range of no less than two and no more than 20 years incarceration in the Texas Department of Corrections. The person convicted could also receive a fine of up to $10,000. 

The legislature sends a clear message to our teachers, coaches, and other school employees: Don’t mess around with your students! 

The recent trends associated with this legislation demonstrate not only a change in the law but also a growing shift in how illicit affairs between teachers and students are viewed broadly by our society. According to published data from the Texas Education Agency from 2018, the number of opened investigations into allegations of inappropriate relationships between teachers and students has increased by 42% since the previous year. This number is a 249% increase from a decade ago. 

  This law was undoubtedly intended to curb sexual predation by unscrupulous teachers and other school employees on the vulnerable children in our school system. To this end, the law is indeed much needed and is perhaps arguably overdue. Our school system is the last place we want our children exposed to sexual predators. Any adult who seeks employment in our schools to find outlets for their sexual gratification should be punished to the fullest extent allowed by law.

However, the vast majority of individuals who enter the teaching profession do so with the most honorable intentions. Teachers are one of our society’s greatest resources. But the sad reality is that we are all human, and the powerful impulses associated with romance and human sexuality are hard for some people to ignore. Therefore, from time to time, a teacher – perhaps especially one who is only a few years older than the students they teach – may find themselves tempted to enter a questionable scenario that our society now deems unlawful; an improper relationship between educator and student. If so, that teacher will most certainly lose their job and may also lose their freedom.  

No longer will you hear new stories involving relationships between teachers and students with happy endings. The Texas legislature has put a decisive end to that possibility.  But that does not mean that these relationships will no longer occur, given the nature of who we are as human beings. Nor does it mean that every teacher charged with having an improper relationship is a sexual predator who should face a felony charge followed by a lengthy penitentiary sentence. 

If you or someone you care about is being charged with such a crime, you must find competent legal representation immediately. You need a legal advocate who will fight for you in the courtroom. Perhaps equally as important, you need an attorney who understands the human complexities of the situation you find yourself in. You can frame a winning story for yourself when your day in court finally arrives. Remember that juries are human, too, and will do the right thing when presented with a compelling narrative from a competent attorney who understands the nature of the offense alleged.

Suppose you are charged with this or any other type of criminal offense. In that case, you should immediately contact a competent defense attorney skilled in the practice of criminal law to begin work on your defense. The Bigham Law Firm has attorneys with the experience, expertise, and resources to represent you properly in these difficult cases. 

If you want more information about protecting yourself in any criminal case, please call the Bigham Law Firm at (979) 743-4153 for a free consultation.