# Teacher could get 40 years in prison. WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 13, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870 "2007-01-13T21:56:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/21 "2007-01-14T11:13:13Z")
Sex and children is the new witchcraft. Burn her, burn her! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/22 "2007-01-14T16:43:27Z")
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking] As for the jury, they are instructed to make a decision based on the law. I would say that the law is ridiculous. But I have not seen it, so I cannot really make an informed decision about the jurors. I think this case shows the bizarre laws that the USA has brought in. [/QUOTE] I’ve served on a jury so I am familiar with how they are instructed, but I would not make such a morally wrong decision no matter what the law was. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/23 "2007-01-14T17:30:22Z")
You people down south of us scare the living daylights out of me frequently. I hope common sense will prevail in this situation but I’m not optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/24 "2007-01-14T17:47:55Z")
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking] As for the jury, they are instructed to make a decision based on the law. I would say that the law is ridiculous. But I have not seen it, so I cannot really make an informed decision about the jurors. I think this case shows the bizarre laws that the USA has brought in. [/QUOTE] I would really like to see the wording of the law that she’s convicted of breaking. Could it really be that specific, that the jury had no choice but to find her guilty of it based on what happened? If the law says that, then the law is a ass. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/25 "2007-01-14T17:58:03Z")
I’m confused by this reference to a six member jury, what kind of court is that? Also why was she charged with **risk of injury to a minor**? I’d have thought that was for letting them play with a handgun, or sitting in your lap while driving on the freeway. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/26 "2007-01-14T18:06:37Z")
[QUOTE=outlierrn] Also why was she charged with **risk of injury to a minor**? [/QUOTE] If you read the linked article it gives the full charge as “risk of injury to a minor, or impairing the morals of a child,” which makes a good deal more sense. Well, relatively speaking, that is. It’s still a ridiculous situation. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/27 "2007-01-14T18:09:18Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] I would really like to see the wording of the law that she’s convicted of breaking. Could it really be that specific, that the jury had no choice but to find her guilty of it based on what happened? If the law says that, then the law is a ass. [/QUOTE] Well the jury can always nullify the law and refuse to convict. Now the lawyer cannot ask them to do it, and the judge has no obligation to instruct them that they can do it, but they still can. Not that this alters the potential idiocy of the law, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/28 "2007-01-14T18:09:58Z")
[QUOTE=outlierrn] I’m confused by this reference to a six member jury, what kind of court is that? Also why was she charged with **risk of injury to a minor**? I’d have thought that was for letting them play with a handgun, or sitting in your lap while driving on the freeway. [/QUOTE] Nah. It’s analogous to “contributing to the delinquency of a minor”, meaning it covers not just physical but also emotional and mental hazards. Color me unsurprised. Some of the most insignificant or even imaginary threats to children provoke many of us Americans to almost ridiculous levels of anger and kneejerk-ism, while most of the real threats (seriously, people, put a fucking fence around the pool until little Jimmy’s feet touch the bottom, please?) go ignored. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/29 "2007-01-14T18:40:32Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] I would really like to see the wording of the law that she’s convicted of breaking. Could it really be that specific, that the jury had no choice but to find her guilty of it based on what happened? If the law says that, then the law is a ass. [/QUOTE] Ask and thou shalt recieve (and let me just say the good people of Connecticut had some fucking idiots design the search engine for their Statutes and General Acts.) [QUOTE=Connecticut General Statutes, Chapter 939] Sec. 53-21. Injury or risk of injury to, or impairing morals of, children. Sale of children. (a) Any person who (1) wilfully or unlawfully causes or permits any child under the age of sixteen years to be placed in such a situation that the life or limb of such child is endangered, the health of such child is likely to be injured or the morals of such child are likely to be impaired, or does any act likely to impair the health or morals of any such child, or (2)… [/QUOTE] Parts (2) and (3) deal with direct genital contact and the transfer of ownership(!) of children. They can be read [here](http://www.cga.ct.gov/2005/pub/Chap939.htm#Sec53-21.htm) along with copious case notes, if desired. However, for the benefit of you, dear fellow dopers, I have done so already, and you may simply point your eyes down a couple of lines. The only part that has any relevance to this case reads as follows: > [@](#): > > Does not unconstitutionally interfere with rights of parents to raise children and is not unconstitutionally vague and overbroad in violation of right to freedom of speech where defendant was not parent of teenaged girls and prior case law gave fair warning that conduct of showing pornographic movies to children could result in arrest. Defendant’s conduct was at issue, not content of pornographic movies. Even that bit isn’t particularly important, except to establish that someone has already been convicted of a violation of this statute for a broadly similar offense. We can surmise from the text that the circumstances were quite different, of course. Presumably the jury felt that the morals of four children were likely to be impaired by having seen a couple of porno pop-ups. I wonder why there are only four counts; I would assume that CT class sizes just aren’t that small, so what the hell were the other twenty-odd kids doing at the time? Or perhaps they all saw it, but the jury determined that the rest of the class had no morals to impair… ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/30 "2007-01-14T18:49:36Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Some of the most insignificant or even imaginary threats to children provoke many of us Americans to almost ridiculous levels of anger and kneejerk-ism, while most of the real threats (seriously, people, put a fucking fence around the pool until little Jimmy’s feet touch the bottom, please?) go ignored. [/QUOTE] What planet do you live on that pool fence laws are not draconian? My opinion is that you should watch your fucking child until he or she is old enough to be responsible around a pool. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/31 "2007-01-14T19:05:33Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] What planet do you live on that pool fence laws are not draconian? My opinion is that you should watch your fucking child until he or she is old enough to be responsible around a pool. [/QUOTE] a) I don’t have a child, and if I did I’d hope he isn’t fucking yet; b) What planet do you live on upon which my post said anything about mandating pool fences in law? It was a plea to parents, who apparently can’t be trusted to watch their kids, your opinion notwithstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/32 "2007-01-14T20:20:47Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] What planet do you live on upon which my post said anything about mandating pool fences in law? It was a plea to parents, who apparently can’t be trusted to watch their kids, your opinion notwithstanding. [/QUOTE] No, I’m asking, where do you live where pool fences are not already mandated by law? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/33 "2007-01-14T20:34:57Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] No, I’m asking, where do you live where pool fences are not already mandated by law? [/QUOTE] Oh. Florida, where your pool has to be enclosed but not actually fenced… so if your screen door is open, there’s nothing to stop little Timmy from falling in. A quick googling shows that 46% of infant drownings last year occurred because of un- or poorly-enclosed pools. Oddly, about 75% of the hits I got were about Australian pool fence laws. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/34 "2007-01-14T21:52:44Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Oh. Florida, where your pool has to be enclosed but not actually fenced… so if your screen door is open, there’s nothing to stop little Timmy from falling in. A quick googling shows that 46% of infant drownings last year occurred because of un- or poorly-enclosed pools. Oddly, about 75% of the hits I got were about Australian pool fence laws. [/QUOTE] Ahh, here you not only have to have your pool fenced and locked, you have to have an alarm on any doors, including screen doors, leading to the pool. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/35 "2007-01-15T02:43:28Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Ahh, here you not only have to have your pool fenced and locked, you have to have an alarm on any doors, including screen doors, leading to the pool. [/QUOTE] Now look. You killed a perfectly good thread. Stupid pools. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/36 "2007-01-15T04:26:12Z")
[QUOTE=villa] Well the jury can always nullify the law and refuse to convict. Now the lawyer cannot ask them to do it, and the judge has no obligation to instruct them that they can do it, but they still can. Not that this alters the potential idiocy of the law, of course. [/QUOTE] Yeah, and if you so much as mention “jury nullification” during jury selection you’re excused. ---
**Author:** ![Capa84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8edcca/32.png) [@Capa84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capa84)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/37 "2007-01-15T04:32:36Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Ahh, here you not only have to have your pool fenced and locked, you have to have an alarm on any doors, including screen doors, leading to the pool. [/QUOTE] Here in FL, any new pool construction is supposed to have the same thing. The pool must have a fence/enclosure etc on all sides, OR on 3 sides, with the 4th side being the house. In the latter case, and opening that opens into the fenced in area that is 1)a door, or 2) a window that is lower than 4 feet from the floor must have an audible alarm. All openings must be lockable, and one must have a shunt button to temporarily disable the alarm, which otherwise cannot be turned off(unless you unplug it) I work for a low voltage wiring/home theater company, we deal with this all the time. Some counties have inspection procedures that are more stringent than others. ---
**Author:** ![Capa84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8edcca/32.png) [@Capa84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capa84)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/38 "2007-01-15T04:33:45Z")
I should add that this is for new pool constructions, existing pools were grandfathered in, and don’t have to add the alarms. I believe if a certain amount of renovation is done, the pool alarm can be required to be added to an existing pool ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/39 "2007-01-15T05:20:11Z")
Dudes, can we take the whole pool thing over to anther thread? It’s rather a huge hijack. Please? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870/40 "2007-01-15T12:03:43Z")
[QUOTE=Leaper] But now that she’s convicted, isn’t she stuck with a sex offender label for LIFE? Even if this is just an untruth derived from another site, isn’t any jail time (or maybe even any punishment) a hugely chilling effect on the use of computers in the classroom? After all, one does not need to be hugely careless to get porn popups on a computer… [/QUOTE] One does not even need to go to porn sites! That’s my biggest problem with sex offender lists, they can include anything from rapist-murdered to “was caught watching plain vanilla porn on the company’s computer” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-could-get-40-years-in-prison-wtf/387870.md?page=3)