Teacher-student sex cases to test consent defense

By Andria Simmons

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A sexual entanglement between a high school teacher and a student is certainly irresponsible.

But is it illegal?

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled in June that when the student is a willing participant and is 16 or older, the student's consent can be a defense for teachers facing a sexual assault charge. A state lawmaker from Gainesville plans to introduce legislation in the coming session that would remove the consent defense.

That change won't come soon enough to affect the outcome of two pending cases in Cobb County.

Former Marietta High School teacher Christopher King, 36, is set to stand trial starting Monday on a felony charge of sexual assault against a person in custody. He was arrested May 27 and accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female student. A conviction would land him in prison for 10 to 30 years and put him on the sex offender registry for the remainder of his life.

The legal age of consent in Georgia is 16. Scott Semrau, an attorney for King, said the charges against his client should therefore be dropped.

"They know she is a willing participant," Semrau said. "They only need to call one witness."

The alleged victim has testified at a prior bond hearing that she and King, an English and journalism teacher, had consensual sex. At the time, she was a 17-year-old honor student at Marietta High School with a car and a job.

"I absolutely knew I had the choice, I could engage in a relationship or not," the alleged victim said at the bond hearing. "I chose to wholeheartedly pursue it."

Steven Martin Parkman, 33, was arrested in April 2008 on a similar charge, accused of having consensual sex with a 17-year-old girl while he was an orchestra teacher at Carl Harrison High School in Kennesaw. A trial date has not been set in that case.

Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head declined to comment about the issues surrounding the King case because it is on the brink of trial. He stated previously that the question of whether King or Parkman committed a crime is one that a jury must decide.

Noah Pines, the lawyer defending Parkman, disagrees.

"If you ask me, the case was presented to the grand jury under a theory that a student -- no matter how old she is -- doesn't have the ability to consent," Pines said. "That's not what the law is. It is just what the prosecutor interpreted it to be."

Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said he would probably not prosecute a similar case if it occurred in his jurisdiction.

"If you read that [state Supreme Court] opinion,  it pretty well rules out any prosecution of sex between a teacher and a child over age 16," Porter said. "Right now, we're trying to change the statute, but until that happens, no, I probably would not prosecute."

If the law is unclear, school policy is not. Having sex with a student will get a teacher fired, according to Cobb County School District spokesman Jay Dillon. King and Parkman resigned in lieu of termination and also had their teaching certificates revoked by the Professional Standards Commission.

State Rep. Doug Collins (R-Gainesville) plans to file legislation for the 2010 legislative session that would clarify the language of the statute for sexual assault against a person in custody.  The law applies to persons in a position of control over a victim, such as a teacher, jailer, parole officer or psychologist. Collins wants to remove the consent defense for teachers when a student is in primary or secondary school.

"It's not OK for a teacher or administrator who has control over a student to have sex with that student, even if that student consents or falls in love with him, as was the case in Cobb," Collins said. "I bet 99 percent of Georgians -- especially parents -- would say it's not OK."