Unattractive Teacher Gets 10 Years for Sex with Student

A 35-year-old sixth grade science teacher convicted of having sex with a 13-year-old student has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Here's the AP story.

So once again, the American judicial system has laid down the law. Under no circumstances is it acceptable for a teacher to have sexual relations with a student. Unless, of course, you're a cute chick. Men and unattractive women will get the maximum punishment.

Amber Jennings had her charges reduced from sex with a minor to disseminating harmful materials to a minor. Apparently all she did was email nude photos of herself to the student. That's not harmful, right? Because she's hot.

Margaret De Barraicua pled guilty to four counts of statutory rape after having sex with a 16-year-old special education student in her car. Parked behind an elementary school. With her two-year-old strapped in a car seat. One year of jail, five years' probation. Not hot exactly, but she certainly isn't unattractive.

Nicole Long was caught having sex with a 17-year-old boy while she was seven months pregrant. After pleading guilty to sexual battery, she was sentenced to three months in prison. Look at those adorable schoolmarm glasses! She looks kind of like one of my college girlfriends.

Everybody loves Debra Lafave, who was arrested for several counts of having sex with a 14-year-old. Her lawyer argued, "To place Debbie into a Florida state women's penitentiary, to place an attractive young woman in that kind of hell hole, is like putting a piece of raw meat in with the lions." The charges were dropped by the prosecution despite the fact that the judge had refused to accept details of the plea bargain and had indeed set a trial date. She got three months of house arrest and seven years of probation.

But America's real statutory sweetheart is Mary Kay Latourneau, right? She did jail time for having sex with a sixth grader, was released early for good behavior, then was caught in a steamed-up car with the same student. Sent back to prison for the original 7 years, she discovered she was pregnant with his second child, her sixth! (Dramatic music sting!) The boy always insisted that he was not a victim and that he loved Mary Kay. After serving her full sentence, she and her star-crossed wacky lover got married at a winery near Seattle. Entertainment Tonight paid for full access. No joke.

(In Washington, statutory rape is called "child rape." I like Washington.)

Change the genders in all these cases and you would see America's blood boil. It would be a national outrage, like the ongoing investigations into sexual abuse by Catholic priests. (Except, of course, for the fact that studies show that teachers molesting students massively dwarfs the risk of clergy molestation.) Somehow we have decided that if the adult in this transaction has a penis, it's more harmful and traumatic, as if penetration alone constitutes an act of abuse. And we certainly worship at the altar of beauty in this culture; there seems to be a very strong sentiment towards winking and saying, "I wish my hot teacher had been that cool when I was in high school."

Rape is always rape. Abuse is always abuse. Molestation is always molestation. The boys that these women are taking advantage of will be dealing with the effects of this in every interpersonal transaction for the rest of their lives. Innocence, once lost (or in these cases stolen), can not ever be returned. Trust betrayed is often irreparable. There is nothing "cool" or "sexy" about any kind of child rape. Unless, of course, the abuser is a hot woman and you're a TV executive. God, sometimes I just can't believe the unholy bargains we make to get money in this country.

So it's unfortunate for 35-year-old Rachel Holt, the woman in the headline, that she's not more attractive. Entertainment Tonight will not follow her every move, and her name will not become a household word. There's just no way to spin 28 counts of rape unless you've got the face and/or figure of a Playboy centerfold. Maybe that explains why Holt received a 10-year sentence where the average in similar cases is less than two.

In 2005, Angela Comer brought her 14-year-old "boyfriend" to Mexico where she planned to marry him. She also brought her 3-year-old son along for the trip. Her case hasn't yet been decided, so we may have a chance to get this one right. Then again, look at her picture. She just looks so adorable!