Teacher Pleads Guilty to Sex Act with Teen, School Turns Around with Disturbing Ruling
Our society is supposed to take the sexual exploitation of children seriously, but one of the most liberal states just gave a minor slap on the wrist to a sex offender who used their position for lewd acts.
According to The New York Post, a public school teacher in the Bronx pleaded guilty to a criminal sex act with a 14-year-old child. Instead of receiving prison time or even losing their teaching license, however, the disgraced educator was given only probation by the judge.
Outraged yet? Here’s a detail that may have swayed the case: The teacher is a woman, and the 14-year-old student is a boy.
That shouldn’t make a difference in a crime like this, but it’s hard to imagine a male receiving the same sentence after using his position of authority to take sexual advantage of a girl who is under the age of consent. So much for gender equality.
“Dori Myers, 29, a social studies teacher at The New School for Leadership and the Arts in Kingsbridge, pleaded guilty to a criminal sex act — a D felony requiring her to register as a sex offender,” reported The Post.
Myers — who is married to a sheriff’s officer — admitted that she performed oral sex on the 14-year-old boy several different times. Because of the details of that activity, it is not considered statutory rape under New York law, but it does fall under felony sexual misconduct.
“Prosecutors requested that Justice Michael Orbus sentence Myers to two years in prison and order that she surrender her New York state teaching certificate,” explained The Post. Instead, the judge assigned her ten years of probation and left the fate of her teaching certificate up in the air.
“This would be a matter that any licensing agency will be able to consider, if they choose to do that, and of course any employer,” said Judge Orbus.
“There is a possibility that she could teach adults now or in the future and we want to preserve that possibility,” maintained Andrew Stoll, the teacher’s defense attorney.
“She still is a talented teacher and has those skills, and I don’t see any reason to destroy her ability to make a living and to contribute to society in a positive way,” he continued.
Talented and skilled — well, that’s one way to put it.
Interestingly, Myers first claimed she was not guilty of the sexual crime, and her attorney seemed to dismiss the allegation as fabricated by the teenage boy.
“It just takes one person’s accusation to make an arrest in this town and she’s a model citizen who looks forward to clearing her name,” said her lawyer. What happened to believing all accusers in cases like this?
Her plea changed to guilty after the 14-year-old maintained his claim and witnesses corroborated the allegations.
In the age of “MeToo” and constant calls for gender equality, it is very revealing that one of the most liberal parts of the country apparently doesn’t believe their own narratives.
If the social justice crowd truly wants sexual crimes investigated and victims taken seriously, they could start by enforcing these kinds of offenses proportionately.
Either genders are actually equal or they’re not, but New York can’t seem to make up its mind. Double standards have no place in the law.
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