House approves bill criminalizing sex with students
By Michelle Dupler, Herald staff writer
OLYMPIA -- The state House of Representatives gave final approval Tuesday to a bill making it a crime for public school employees to have sex with students up to age 21.
House Bill 1385, sponsored by Rep. Larry Haler, R-Richland, passed 82-16 and closes a legal loophole that prevented school employees from being prosecuted for having sex with students between the ages of 18 and 21.
Several court cases have said it was unclear whether the law prohibited teachers from having sex with students who were 18 or older because those students are not "minors."
In Benton County, a sexual misconduct charge had to be dismissed in August against former Richland music teacher Allan Eve because the girl was 18.
Judge Dennis Yule ruled that current law only applies to students who are 16 or 17.
"It's been a long road but to have this legislation pass the Legislature and sent to the governor's desk is truly one of the highlights of my legislative career," Haler said. "As elected officials, one of our paramount duties is to protect our citizens. Keeping our families, communities and students safe is of the highest priority."
Haler's original bill protected students up to age 20, but lawmakers later amended the bill to bring it in line with a version introduced into the Senate by Jerome Delvin, R-Richland.
Delvin's bill extended the protection up to age 21 because students with developmental disabilities can be enrolled up to that age.
"The parents of the Tri-Cities never let me forget for one minute that this was a fight for the safety of their kids," Delvin said. "All day, every day they entrust their children to teachers and school employees who have pledged to keep their children safe. Today's legislation makes it crystal clear that all students in Washington state secondary schools are protected from teacher sexual misconduct to age 21, the age limit for secondary school children. I particularly wanted to protect the students with developmental disabilities and this legislation will do it."
The bill now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire for her signature.
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Tri-City Herald Letter to the Editor
Job well done Representative Larry Haler and Senator Jerome Delvin. On Wednesday April 22nd the Herald reported that house bill 1385 passed making it a crime for a public school employee to have sex with a student. I applaud the work of our elected leadership in making progress in the most damaging and devastating of crimes committed upon another person.
Sex abuse of minors remains a growing plague and major changes are needed in our state laws to keep our communities as safe as possible. Please continue your hard work and consider taking it to the next level. In my opinion repeat offenders should not be allowed to trade prison time for a release with counseling. It was a social experiment that has gone horribly wrong and the innocent are paying the price. I believe you will find overwhelming public support to keep high risk sex offenders out of our neighborhoods and away from our children. What is needed now is a champion willing to take on the bureaucracy these programs have created. I hope it is as much of a concern to you as it is to the families of our community. Again good work.
Rob Welch
