Teacher-Student Sex.

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SEX SCANDALS

Jennifer Riojas, Teacher In Sex Scandal Is Pregnant

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Jennifer Riojas is accused of having sex with at least three of her male students at Fort Worth high school. Now, she quit her teaching position, but only because of the stress on her current pregnancy. Get the details on this shocking news.

Jennifer Riojas may have turned heads at the Fort Worth high school she taught at with her looks, but now she calls attention for all the wrong reasons.

According to the district's Office of Professional Standards, Riojas had sex with three male students while teaching at a school in Texas. She was arrested on Wednesday on charges for having sex with a 16-year-old pupil.

One student told police that Riojas took an interest to him in their first period class and would attend his football games. Their sexual relationship allegedly did not begin until he was injured and sent to a medical facility, where Riojas supposedly visited him and they had sex in his hospital bed.

Riojas was released from police custody after posting bail and hasn't been seen since. She did send out a statement to the Fort Worth school district denying any sexual relations with students about a month ago. She vacated her position for health reasons.

'I am resigning after careful thought due to increased stress on my health and pregnancy because of current working conditions... I do not believe that at this stage in my life, secondary education is my calling,' she wrote Oct. 21.

She also said that no student could possibly be the father of her child.

Is Riojas guilty or just a victim of false allegations?

Terra USA/Marilyn Dominguez

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SalonFRIDAY, NOV 19, 2010 21:01 ET

BROADSHEET

Student-teacher sex: When is it OK?

A man is charged with sexual misconduct with a minor, even though the student was 18

BY TRACY CLARK-FLORY

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Matthew Hirschfelder, a former choir teacher at Hoquiam High School in Washington state, had sex in his office with a student days before she graduated. Then 33, he was charged with first degree sexual misconduct with a minor, even though the student was 18 at the time. I mentionedthis case yesterday in a link roundup, but the issues it raises -- especially, whether a high school student can ever meaningfully consent to sex with a teacher -- deserves a bit more consideration.

The age of consent in Washington is 16, but a statute outlaws a few specific sexual relationships, including between a teacher and a "minor" student who is "at least sixteen years old." In an appeal, Hirschfelder argued that the statute was meant to criminalize sexual misconduct between teachers and students who are aged 16 and 17 (i.e. over the age of consent but under the age of 18). This week, however, the State Supreme Court ruled that legislators had originally intended to outlaw teachers having sex with students under 21 (the age cap for high school enrollment).

The court's decision reads, "That the legislature saw fit to criminalize sex between school employees and high school students -- even those who reach the age of majority while registered as students -- is a policy choice that recognizes the special position of trust and authority teachers hold over their students." The ruling essentially recasts all registered students between the age of 16 and 21 as incapable of consenting to sex, at least when it comes to school employees. Many states where the age of consent is 16 have similar laws. In a teacher-student sex case in Pennsylvania, a judge ruled:

A high school student who is assigned to a teacher's class does not have the capacity to welcome that teacher's physical sexual conduct. Under these circumstances, the teacher's conduct is deemed unwelcomed. Unwelcome sexual conduct constitutes a sexually hostile educational environment, a form of sexual harassment. And sexual harassment constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex.

Of course, teacher-student sex is a controversial topic even with students over the age of 21, and many colleges have banned hot-for-teacher hookups. We don't legislate those relationships from the outside, though, because we're talking about legal, consenting adults. Things get messier when looking at cases like Hirschfelder's. If we draw the line at high school graduation, as opposed to at a student's 18th birthday, it means that a teacher having sex with a 20-year-old high school student could be outlawed, even though someone of the same age could legally engage in a sexual relationship with a teacher if they were in college. It's easy enough to understand the frustration of the dissenting judge in this case, who wrote that the majority opinion "does not, ultimately make sense."

• Tracy Clark-Flory is a staff writer at Salon. Follow @tracyclarkflory on Twitter. More Tracy Clark-Flory
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