Legal Loopholes in 43 States Invite Student Sexual Abuse

Before today’s kindergarteners graduate from high school, around 4.5 million students in America will experience sexual abuse at the hands of a school employee. After more research, Liberty Counsel discovered that the laws in 43 states have exemptions from obscenity laws that permit sexually explicit materials in schools that can facilitate this kind of misbehavior.

These laws protect school employees who provide students with pornographic materials from criminal prosecution under the guise that the materials are “educational.” Liberty Counsel has researched all of the states and has sample amendments or laws to close the loopholes in all 43 states. Individuals interested in changing their state laws can contact Liberty Counsel for more details or download a general fact sheet.

Sexually explicit materials in schools presented by teachers exacerbates the problem by creating a sexually charged environment. Currently, teachers are in a position of authority, with nearly complete freedom to discuss everything with young children, including erotic topics. Sexual predators can use teaching as an avenue to groom their intended target, or even entire classrooms all at once, while being protected by this loophole.

“It is ridiculous to claim that legally harmful, pornographic material magically becomes innocent because the person providing it changed jobs,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “It is time to hold our teachers and coaches to the same legal standards as all other adults. From Hollywood to hometown America, children deserve to be protected from harmful materials, grooming and rape.”

Current laws are not protecting our students. A study estimates that school employees abuse one in 10 students. It also found school employees involved in sexual misconduct in all five districts it surveyed in 2014. The study found this rampant misconduct across geographically and demographically diverse school districts. Our nation has seen an incredible number of teachers and coaches convicted for the sexual abuse of their students. Keep in mind that statistics commonly show that out of 1,000 rapists, only six will actually go to jail. When children are exposed to sexually explicit materials and grooming, the crimes of rape and sexual misconduct against them are even less likely to be discovered.

“Educational obscenity exemptions are but one example of the toxic legacy of Dr. Alfred Kinsey and his claim that children are sexual from birth and unharmed by sexual activity,” said Mary E. McAlister, Senior Litigation Counsel for Liberty Counsel, who has been working on researching the exemptions and bringing their toxic history to light. “That claim, borne out of records of systematic child sexual abuse, was used as a basis for wholesale revision of our criminal laws through the Model Penal Code, of which the educational obscenity exemptions are a part. The damage wrought by these exemptions is immeasurable but can be halted by repealing these laws and de-sexualizing our public schools,” said McAlister.

One nationwide article compiled more than 700 examples of female school employees convicted of sexual misconduct, although that may not be comprehensive. A South Dakota Fact Sheet shows nearly a dozen teachers convicted of related charges, and none of them were included in a national list published by World Net Daily. ­Another fact sheet shows that these teachers were usually transferred to three different schools before being reported to the police. A government accountability office studying school employee sex offenders found that child molesters could have “even thousands of victims, sometimes without ever being caught,” according to a studying of 232 child predators, who had 17,000 victims.

In addition to the sexual assaults, the exemptions have meant that various events that expose children to sexually explicit information have occurred without any legal liability.

Giving children sexually explicit materials desensitizes them to sexual ideas, conversations and conduct. Pornographic and obscene materials are a strong component of the grooming process used by sexual predators because it decreases the likelihood their abuse will be reported to authorities.

Because of this, all 50 states have laws that give fines and jail time to adults who give harmful (obscene or pornographic) materials to children. However, the 43 states with loopholes permit these materials to be presented in school, which can facilitate students being groomed for sexual exploitation and abuse and give sexual predators a legally protected way to access young children through our schools.

Parents are coming together on Monday, April 23, in a national “Sex Ed Sit Out.” This protest day is organized by Elizabeth Johnston, known as “The Activist Mommy,” whose videos have been viewed more than 70 million times. Liberty Counsel supports this event.

Sexually explicit materials have been found in all aspects of school curriculum including literature, history, science and even class parties and special projects. Parents have been unable to protect their children from pornographic materials by simply “opting out” of sex education classes. This leaves students even more susceptible to exploitation and abuse from other minors and from adults.

We need to repeal laws immediately that facilitate sexual exploitation and abuse. The “harmful to minors” laws must be allowed to function as intended without protecting certain occupations.

Some may question, “What about aspects of anatomy, biology and art?” Under the laws proposed by Liberty Counsel, schools can continue to teach information about the human body in the context of science class and about healthy living and relationships without exposing children to legally obscene material. There is no educational value or purpose for allowing legally obscene and pornographic material. {eoa}

For the original article, visit lc.org.