CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The Senate Committee on Education convened Tuesday morning to discuss a pair of proposed bills, among them SB187 which will establish a distinct criminal offense for the sexual abuse of students by school employees separate from other applicable charges.
The bill, first introduced on Friday by Republican Senator and Committee Vice Chair Hank Clements of the 2nd District, was brought before the Education Committee Tuesday morning for discussion of details and possible amendments.
The most obvious question likely held by most with regard to this bill is that of how it differs from existing regulations, which Senator Clements touched on in Tuesday’s meeting.
“There’s a couple of differences,” Clements began. “In the original bill, it refers to the public or private, elementary or secondary schools. [This] further defines exactly what [is meant] by public elementary school or private elementary school.”
This distinction is made, among other reasons, for the purposes of ensuring individuals convicted of offenses of this nature are unable to regain access to students in any professional capacity following such convictions.
“Of the West Virginia Board of Education pursuant to the West Virginia Constitution, and when it talks down at the bottom [about] ‘shall include the permanent forfeiture of any teaching certificate or other certificate added issued pursuant to §18A-3-2a,’ just to further define what what’s meant by other certificates. So that code section generally allows for the Superintendent to award a teaching certificate and alternative teaching certificate, administrative certificate, paraprofessional certificate and/or other certificate categories. So, there’s other some minor cleanup in the bill… some changes to the title and so forth.”
Furthermore, as Senator Clements explains, the language in the bill would implicate education professionals who conduct relationships of an inappropriate manner with any and all students, including those over the age of 18. He also explains the origins of the bill, which stems from a situation which stems from a purported incident in Clements’ own home county of Cabell.
“I bring this bill to the legislature because of a situation that we had in my home county where two teachers were involved in relationships with students. They [the students] were over the age of 18. The prosecutor and the county came to me and asked that we take a look at this because there was no crime, there was no nothing he could do about the situation.”
He goes on to explain that, despite the students in question having been of legal age for participation in a relationship with an adult, that the influence held over students by educational professionals creates a substantial conflict of interest and ethics.
“I think this is important to put in there because as the senator from Mongolia County said, these people are in a position of trust over young people. Even though they’re 18 years old, there still, I think, could be possible influence; something to be gained by somebody, and I think that I think it is an issue that we need to address.”
Little in the way of further discussion occurred following Senator Clements’ remarks, and the motion was adopted, and the committee substitute agreed to. Senate Bill 187 was recommended to pass under the double committee reference, meaning the bill will next be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Additional LOOTPRESS coverage for the ongoing WV Legislative sessions can be found here.
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CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A new bill introduced by the West Virginia Senate last week pertaining to the sexual abuse of students by school employees will make its way to the Committee on Education Tuesday.
Senate bill 187, if passed, would amend the WV Code to include a new article which has been designated §61-8B-11b. The article would relate to the establishment of entirely “new criminal offenses of sexual contact with, sexual intrusion, or sexual abuse of students by a school employee; and listing the penalties for these offense.”
First introduced on Friday, January 13, 2023 before being referred to the committee, the penalties established by the bill regarding sexual misconduct with students by school employees would establish distinct criminal offenses which would be issued apart from and in addition to already existing charges for conduct of this nature including that of sexual misconduct with a minor, statutory rape, and similar offenses.
Article §61-8B-11b, should the bill pass, would prohibit sexual contact, intercourse, or intrusion against students by school employees, and would dictate the following:
“It shall be a felony offense for any teacher, principal, counselor, coach or other employee of any private or public elementary or secondary school to engage in sexual intercourse, sexual intrusion or sexual contact as defined by chapter §61-8B-1 of [the WV] code with any student enrolled in such school regardless of the age of said student.”
The article would further specify that consent by a student to sexual contact, intercourse, or intrusion from a school employee would not serve as any type of applicable defense, nor would the fact that the abuse in question occurred outside of school property and/or did not occur at a school function.
Penalties issued in accordance with the bill would be issued in addition to other applicable offenses including those of a similar nature. Furthermore, it is stated that the penalty for the distinct offense would entail a fine of up to $5,000, the permanent loss of teaching or similarly applicable certificates, and a minimum sentence of one year in prison and a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. As stated in the proposed bill:
“This is a separate and distinct criminal offense from any other applicable offense under this code and the penalties set forth herein shall be in addition to any other penalties for any other applicable offense. The penalty for anyone convicted of this offense shall be not less than 1 nor more than 5 years in prison, and/or a fine of up to $5,000, and shall include the permanent forfeiture of any teaching or other certificate.”
The Education Committee is scheduled to discuss SB 187 at 9:00am Tuesday morning.
Additional LOOTPRESS coverage for the ongoing sessions of the WV Legislature can be found here.