Appellate court rules teachers can have sex with there 18-year-old students

**Terminator** · 01-13-09, 10:21 PM

State law does not bar teachers from having sex with 18-year-old students.
That's the decision of a three-judge panel of the Washington Court of Appeals, which on today ordered the dismissal of a case brought against Hoquiam High School's former choir teacher.
The teacher, Matthew Hirschfelder, was charged with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor. He challenged a judge's refusal to dismiss his case. The appeals court unanimously agreed that the state law is vague, and that the state Legislature only intended to forbid sexual contact between school employees and students who are 16 or 17.
Hirschfelder was 33 in 2006, at the time of the alleged relationship with the young woman. He resigned the next year.

**TXCharlie** · 01-13-09, 10:30 PM

Our local case of the hot teacher screwing her 18-yo pupil(s) was tossed out by the DA. Texas law makes it a serious misdemeanor unless they're married.

I think our DA correctly saw that the law was faulty, since it really put a criminal penalty on sex outside of marriage, but not necessarily on sex with her student (if they had married, which they were planning to do).

**MacLean** · 01-13-09, 10:46 PM

The law says "under 18 and above 16" so the court pretty much had their hands tied.

I'm surprised it was charged.

**Captain America** · 01-13-09, 11:24 PM

For extra credit no doubt.

**jmur5074** · 01-14-09, 01:27 AM

Hm...reasonable ruling.

Likely unethical on the teachers part, but 18 is 18 is 18.

**CT209** · 01-14-09, 01:39 AM

It'd be Sexual Assault, 2nd or Sexual Assault, 4th in CT depending on what act occurred. The statutes specifically state "the actor is a school employee and such other person is a student enrolled in a school under the jurisdiction of the BOE which employs the actor. There's other language that applies to school coaches.