Faith's Law

School Employee Sexual Misconduct

School employee sexual misconduct is a term that encompasses a spectrum of problematic behaviors, some of which are criminal. This misconduct can range from sexualized comments directed toward students to grooming a child for sexual abuse to committing sexual abuse or assault against a student. Unfortunately, if a K-12 student has reached the legal age of consent in a given state, sexual contact by a school employee may not be considered criminal.

Sexualized behaviors are harmful to students even if there is not criminal sexual contact. Consider a high schooler whose teacher repeatedly makes sexualized comments to them. We would not tolerate this in the workplace, but if no one sees and reports this behavior, it may be going on in the classroom. These victims are children, and even when they reach the age of majority, they are under the authority and power of the employee. They are taught to obey school employees, with the threat of discipline if they don’t. Consent cannot be given in those circumstances, and non-contact sexualized behaviors should never be tolerated.

It's estimated that 10% of students (or more) will be subjected to educator sexual misconduct by the time they graduate high school. Attendance is compulsory upon threat of truancy, so these students are truly a captive audience. Their future depends on their diploma. When students are abused in a school setting, they often experience institutional betrayal, finding out that the community failed to protect them or knowingly helped the perpetrator. Victims can suffer PTSD, depression, anxiety, self-harm, or drug use.*

For more information on the problem and scope of school employee sexual misconduct and what schools can do, check out the following resources:

*Shakeshaft C. Organizational Betrayal. Harvard Education Press, 2024: 10, 26, 65.