The family of the student who had a sexual relationship with her Cobb County orchestra teacher is speaking out about the teacher, Steven Parkman, as his trial on sexual assault charges nears.
Parkman, a 34-year-old former orchestra teacher at Harrison High School in Kennesaw, was indicted last year and additional charges were added Dec. 17. He faces five counts of sexual assault against a person in custody and four counts of sodomy for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student in 2008. He is expected to stand trial early next year.
The parents of the former student, whom The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has decided not to name because their daughter is an alleged sexual assault victim, said Monday that their daughter was "groomed" for a relationship with Parkman beginning in her freshman year. Their sexual relationship lasted about two and a half months beginning in January 2008, they said.
"He used her and really kind of forced her into the relationship," the father said. "It was not consensual at all."
Parkman's lawyer, Noah Pines, said the "the evidence is clear that this was a consensual relationship." He added, "I understand that her parents may not want to admit that fact."
Pines argues the case should be dropped because the age of consent in Georgia is 16. Current state law does not forbid consensual intercourse between a teacher and student over age 16.
In a similar case that went to trial Dec. 9 in Cobb County, a judge ruled that former Marietta High School teacher Christopher King was not guilty of sexual assault charges stemming from a relationship with a 17-year-old female student.
Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head has declined to comment about the facts of Parkman case prior to the trial. The indictment states that Parkman and the 17-year-old engaged in sexual activity several times -- at the school, in the parking lot of West Cobb Regional Library and at her residence.
The girl's parents told the AJC that Parkman arranged to sit next to their daughter on out-of-town flights for orchestra competitions and arranged for hotel rooms near each other in her early years of high school. They say that after she began having sex with him during the winter of her senior year, he threatened to change her grades and give her a bad recommendation for college if she didn't continue their relationship.
"He was telling her if she didn't come over to the house and be with him, he would make her sorry for it and make sure she wouldn’t get into any college or university," the father said.
At the time, the parents say, the girl was trying to go to college to become an orchestra teacher. They said she finally told her parents about the relationship in April, and they contacted the school principal and police. Parkman resigned in lieu of termination shortly before his April 14, 2008, arrest.
"He held her hostage to the point where she couldn’t handle it anymore, until she blew the whistle on the whole thing," the father said.
The student now attends college 1,600 miles away at Brigham Young University. Her parents say she is seeking counseling. She declined Wednesday to talk about the relationship with Parkman until after the trial is over, but stated that she agreed with everything her parents have said.
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