My buddy Monstah shared a story on his Facebook page over the weekend about Brittni Colleps, a teacher from Texas who was
recently given five years in prison for having an inappropriate relationship with five students. I didn't think anything of it at first, because I figured justice was being served, but when I actually read the story, I didn't agree with what happened.
Apparently, this teacher had sex with five
18-year-old students at her home last year. I expressed in the thread how I didn't see any
crime in what happened. I was then shown the portion of the
State of Texas Penal Code where it says that any sexual contact between teachers and students at the same school is a felony. Still I didn't see any crime.
I went on to say that had these students murdered someone, the headline would've read "Grown-ass men murdered someone", and that they would've been tried as adults. I was told that we weren't talking about murder, but a teacher who took advantage of poor students blah blah blah. Poor students? These "poor students" are old enough to vote, fight for this country, get married, buy cigarettes, and rent porn. When the students testified, they said that they weren't forced or felt pressured into doing it. In fact, the young adults recommended that the teacher not get in trouble at all.
Because it took the jury less than three hours to agree on Colleps' sentence, I said in the thread that if this woman were pretty, she would've gotten probation.
Case in point: Remember the infamous
Debra Lafave from Florida? She was
also sentenced for
sleeping with a student, except this student was 14-years-old. Lafave was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior; two years of house arrest for the first count, and one year of house arrest with seven years of probation for the second count.
Lafave was ordered to stay 1000 feet away from schools and daycare centers. She had to enroll in a course for sex offenders, told not to possess any porn or obscene material, and was ordered take a polygraph test annually. That was in 2005. When she finished her house arrest, she was dismissed from probation - four years early.
In all fairness, I have to report that just several days ago, her probation was reinstated. Still, Debra Lafave never did a day in prison for sleeping with that 14-year-old student.
Colleps never got the option to do house arrest or community service. She wasn't offered a deal where she would have to stay away from places children hang out. She got prison. And although that's the standard for student/teacher encounters, I think a young lawyer can make a name for his or herself by getting Colleps a better deal.
Whether this really has anything to do with looks, but more or less the states these people live in, common sense should be used when handling these kinds of cases. My job is to start conversations or shake up the ones already in progress. For example, back in May, a
Florida teacher who had a relationship with an 18-year-old student did
not face charges because why? Because they were consenting adults. Discuss.
So, let me ask: do you think Colleps' sentence of five years was appropriate? Should she have gotten more time? Do you think the men involved were poor victims? Do you think it's fair that Lafave took advantage of a 14-year-old and did no time, while Colleps' "victims" were 18-year-olds and got five years? Do you think Lafave got no prison time because she was pretty? Because she had good lawyers maybe? What kind of time do you think Lafave should've gotten? Do you think it's inappropriate for any person in any authority position to engage in a relationship with a subordinate?
