At least six female teachers in the US have been arrested this week for having sex with students. One of them, Ellen Shell, a teacher’s aide at Woodlawn Elementary School in Danville, has been accused of having “sexual intercourse on three occasions with two 16-year-old boys” on separate occasions in July and August last year. Shell has been charged with third-degree rape and was placed on administrative leave. The school officials sent out letters to parents alerting them of her arrest. The other five teachers involved in similar cases were from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Lincoln County, Des Moines, and Virginia.
Heather Hare, an educator from Arkansas, is facing a first-degree felony assault rape charge for having a sexual relationship with a teen student. Emily Hancock from Oklahoma has been charged under sections including with lewd or indecent proposals or acts to a child under 16; soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a minor by use of technology and obscene or indecent writings, pictures. Kristen Gantt, a former substitute teacher with Wellston Public Schools in Lincoln County, was charged in connection with an inappropriate relationship after she began sending nude photos to a minor. Kheradmand, a special needs teacher from Virginia, was charged with four counts of indecent liberties.
The boys involved in these cases are not aware of the laws that protect them and would not come forward because they thought they would be in trouble. One of the boy’s mothers told FOX56 that Shell brought them alcohol three to four times. It is important for students to be educated about their rights and for schools to have proper guidelines and policies in place to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.
