Sexual Misconduct by Educational Professionals

Defining Typical Misconduct

The most common form of educator sexual misconduct is classified as sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature. One type of sexual harassment is quid pro quo, literally meaning “this for that,” in which a harasser in a power relationship (e.g., supervisor to employee or educator to student) either grants or withholds something desired, or undesired, from a victim in return for sexual favors. For example, a teacher may award a favorable grade to a student in exchange for sexual favors. Or as a reward for sexual favors, a counselor may promise to withhold sensitive information from a student's parents.

Another type of harassment, hostile environment sexual harassment, occurs when a harasser creates an unwelcome environment by means of sexual acts, inappropriate language, pictures, or other messages. A power relationship need not exist to create a hostile environment, and usually a single incident is not pervasive enough to establish a legal claim of harassment. Examples of hostile environment harassment include the telling of sex-related jokes and stories, sending sexually related e-mails, and distributing sexually graphic photographs or cartoons.

Although sexual abuse can be categorized as sexual harassment, sexual abuse is typically viewed as a criminal act. Often defined by state statutes, sexual abuse is a nonconsensual sexual act that includes rape, child sexual abuse, and incest. When reported to law enforcement authorities, incidents of sexual abuse may lead to fines, orders of restraint, or incarceration.

In some instances, consensual sexual activity occurs between an educator and a student who is of consensual age. The age of consent varies greatly from state to state, ranging from 15 to 18. Nevertheless, most states have laws or ethics codes that prohibit inappropriate sexual conduct between an educator and student, regardless of the student's age.

There is no stereotypical perpetrator of sexual misconduct. Research indicates that teachers are the most common offenders, with others being coaches, administrators, and other school employees. Coaches, and others who spend extensive amounts of time with students in an extracurricular setting, often develop close relationships with students. These relationships, combined with opportunity, enable the boundaries between educator and student to become blurred, leading to inappropriate sexual relationships. Offenders tend to be males who have been deemed trustworthy, popular, and model educators. The perpetrators are seldom predators—they do not enter the profession to prey on the students. In retrospect, the perpetrators usually experience deep feelings of guilt and shame.

...