Predator Teacher Avoids Jail...gets house arrest

[markomalley]

WFTV.com

Former Teacher On House Arrest For Sex With Student

POSTED: 6:37 am EST January 20, 2006

INVERNESS, Fla. -- A former Citrus County high school teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old female student has been sentenced to two years of house arrest.

Amy Gail Lilley, 36, pleaded no contest Thursday to a charge of lewd and lascivious battery of a child under 16. She also has been sentenced to eight years of probabtion.

Circuit Judge Ric Howard agreed to what he called a significantly reduced sentenced based on statements from Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman and Lilley's attorney, Michael Blackstone.

"The natural parents disagreed over what should be done," Buxman said. "Both the ... father and victim didn't want charges filed. The mother wanted prison."

The judge denied a request from the girl to talk to Lilley and ordered the two not to have contact.

The girl's father said he believes his daughter "is not a victim. (I believe) two people fell in love."

The affair occurred last fall at Lilley's home and in Orlando, investigators said.

Lilley's personnel file shows she graduated from Lecanto High in 1987 and went to work there as a business education teacher in 1993. She also coached girls softball at the school.

As a condition of her probation, she has to permanently give up her teaching certificate and undergo counseling as a sexual offender.

---

Please note the bolded text carefully...

[markomalley]

By the way, this has been studied.

According to a 2001 survey of current students, 9.6% report having been the victim of teacher sexual misconduct. Apparently, a slightly higher number of alleged student victims were female (56%) than male (44%), with a corresponding percentage of alleged perpetrators being male (57%) versus female (43%). Approximately 28% of the incidents reported were same-sex, with 15% being reported as male-male and 13% being reported as female-female.

Documentation of a number of studies can be found here: http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/m...view/report.pdf

So I guess the bottom line is that we should stop talking about it and re-evaluate our own primative social mores -- the incidence of it is so common, it must be natural!