Teacher-sex bill faces challenge

Friday, March 14, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A bill banning schoolteachers from having sex with their students may be unconstitutional.

With that in mind, two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee raised the possibility Thursday of changing the law to prohibit sex with anyone under the age of 18, even if there is consent.

At present, it is considered statutory rape for a man to have sexual relations with a girl under the age of 16, even if there is consent.

The committee heard testimony Thursday on Senate Bill 122, which would prohibit teachers in public schools and universities from engaging in sexual conduct with a student 18 or younger.

But constitutional questions may arise out of holding teachers to the 18-year-old standard while it's 16 for others.

Committee Chairman Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, and Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, suggested that an option might be to raise the statutory rape age from 16 to 18.

"It would be a major change in the law," James said. "I'm not saying we're going to do it. I'm saying it's a possibility to consider."

The bill is the outgrowth of teacher-sex cases in the high school in Pahrump.

Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke told the committee that in one case a teacher may have committed 60 sexual violations with students over a 20-year period.

This sparked angry statements by committee members over the fact that nothing was done by school district officials. Sen. Ernie Adler, D-Carson City, said he found it incredible that in a small town like Pahrump, that nobody knew about the sexual conduct of the teacher. He said he was "shocked" the school officials failed to take action, and he doesn't buy the argument that school officials may not have known about the incidents.

The board heard testimony from Becki Mousert, who at age 17 had sexual relations with high school English teacher and coach Robert Worden.

"I was above the age of consent so they said there was no violation of the law," she told the committee.

"No matter where I went, I was told nothing could be done," she said. "I felt he was never punished."

Mousert, who filed suit for $900,000, said an out-of-court settlement was reached.

Worden maintained Mouser consented to the sexual relations, but she said she was intimidated by him.

Sheriff Lieseke said the way the law reads is that "16 is fair game and 15 is jail bait." He said law enforcement is "stymied by the age of consent" in bringing criminal charges against a teacher if the student is 16 or older.

Another Pahrump teacher, Joseph Peterson, 51, was sentenced to life in prison on his guilty plea for sexual assault on a student in 1994. The girl testified Peterson forced her to have sex a couple of months before graduation. It was Peterson, said the sheriff, who had sex with 60 students over two decades.

While witnesses testified the majority of teachers are above board, there is a need for this bill to get the "bad apples."

In most cases, Lieseke said the victims didn't want their parents, boyfriends and others to know about the incidents, making it impossible to build cases against offending teachers.

According to testimony, teachers use threats of bad grades or they shower the girl with gifts. In one case, the teacher allowed the girl to use his car and swimming pool at his house.

Lieseke said teachers who have sex with their students have no fear of the law or repercussions on their careers. He said even if they get fired, school districts will not disclose any misconduct to a potential new employer for fear of being sued.

He said this would stop if the law was changed to allow the teachers to be charged with a felony.