Woman who raped student sues him for “defamation”

It is rare that any case of women sexually abusing boys leaves me at a loss for words. I have read about the most ridiculous situations, from women claiming the boys raped them to women suing their victims for child support. However, the most recent case left me stunned.

A woman convicted of sexually abusing one of her 16-year-old students filed a lawsuit against the boy for “defamation”:

The former Arroyo Grande High School teacher convicted earlier this year of having sex with a 16-year-old student has responded to a lawsuit from that student’s family by filing a counterclaim, alleging the victim has defamed her “to various classmates, family and other members of the community.”

I will quote it again just in case the multiple face palms prevented you from reading it in full:

Vili Fualaau files for separation from woman who raped him as boy

Vili Fualaau filed for separation from Mary Kay Letourneau, the woman who began raping Fualaau when he was 12-years-old. Police caught Letourneau after she became pregnant with Fualaau’s first child when he was 14-years-old. Letourneau faced a seven-year sentence. She received a six-month sentence with three months suspended and was required to attend sex offender treatment. However, shortly after being released, she was found again with Fualaau. The judge imposed the original seven-and-a-half year sentence. Letourneau gave birth to Fualaau’s second child while in prison. After Letourneau completed the sentence in 2004, Fualaau petitioned the court for the removal of the no-contact order imposed on Letourneau. The court granted the order, and in 2005 the pair were married.

This case has been an odd one because of Fualaau’s age at the time Letourneau began raping him, Letourneau’s supposed ignorance about the criminality and predatory nature of her actions, and the media’s desire to exploit the situation as just a hot teacher banging her totally willing student. One need only flip the sexes to see how preposterous such an idea is, and how unlikely anyone would applaud the marriage of a female child rape victim to her rapist.

Yet after almost 12 years of marriage, Faulaau filed for separation from Letourneau:

Woman claims Islamic upbringing led her to abuse boys

A New Jersey woman blamed her religion for her repeated sexual abuse of several boys:

A high-school teacher who was jailed for performing sex acts on her underage pupils has blamed her strict religious upbringing for her crimes.

Linda Hardan, from Prospect Park in New Jersey, was jailed to three years in prison yesterday after sending scores of sexually explicit text messages to pupils, aged 14 to 16 years-old in 2014, and then engaging in sex acts with them.

Her defense lawyer, Alissa Hascup, said the Muslim woman was driven in part to commit the offences due to her strict religious upbringing, and suggested that she be treated by a therapist as oppose to serving time in prison.

I do not claim to be an expert on Islam, however, based on what I know of the religion it does not condone, encourage, or teach that adult women should have sex with boys. It actually teaches the opposite: that women should have not sexual contact with any male until marriage. As such, I am curious how Hardan explained this contradiction.

The judge appeared to make the argument for her:

Student gets $6 million abuse settlement from school following abuse

In rare instance of accountability, a former student abused by one of his teachers will receive a $6 million settlement from the school district:

Vince Finaldi, an attorney for the former high school student, said the egregious conduct of Redlands Unified School administrators in the case warranted what may be one of the largest single-victim sex abuse settlements by a public agency.

“The size of this settlement represents the gravity of the damage done to this young victim and his family and it also highlights the extreme malfeasance and neglect by school officials who turned a blind eye to the criminal conduct of a teacher and failed to protect a student,” Finaldi said.

Laura Whitehurst faced 41 felony counts of unlawful sex acts. She faced a potential 29-year prison sentence. She chose to plead guilty to six counts of lesser offences, resulting in a one-year jail sentence. She was released after six months and placed on probation. She was also required to register a sex offender, but otherwise faced no other penalty. She also shares custody of the child that resulted from her abuse of the student.

The former student’s attorneys argued that the school officials were culpable because they knew of the abuse but nothing to stop it. School district officials agreed to a settlement, although it appears for purely public relation reasons:

Former tutor claims student abused her

Abigail Simon faces four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct against her former student. She is accused on engaging in repeated sexual acts with the 15-year-old boy. However, Simon claims that she is the actual victim:

In testimony punctuated with weeping, Simon said the teen within a matter of weeks in the spring of 2013 used physical intimidation, psychological manipulation and rape to control every aspect of her life – even to the point that she did what he wanted when she was on the other side of the country.

“My thoughts, my life, were consumed with making (the teen) happy,” she said. “It was bizarre.”

It gets more bizarre:

Simon was questioned all day by her attorney, describing events from the beginning of their relationship that started with him slapping her after accusing her of spending too much time with other students she was tutoring.

She wept as she explained how the boy managed to get her to take him to restaurants, drive him to Chicago and South Bend and let him into her apartment all using threats against her and himself.

Two things come to mind. One, this is the case that should have prompted Joanna Schroeder’s ire about double standards against male victims. What man could take the stand and claim that his 15-year-old female victim controlled his life and expect anyone to take such a claim serious?

Former teacher of the year gets 38-year sentence

In a rather surprising decision, a Florida judge sentenced Ethel Anderson to 38 years in prison for sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy:

Calling her “a parent’s worst nightmare,” a judge sentenced former Hillsborough County schoolteacher Ethel Anderson to 38 years in prison Monday for performing oral sex and other lewd acts on a 12-year-old boy she tutored on weekends.

Circuit Judge Chet Tharpe’s severe punishment of Anderson seemed designed to send a message in a county that has attracted disproportionate attention for sex scandals involving female educators. The most notorious of them, Debra Lafave, managed to avoid incarceration completely after pleading guilty to sex with a 14-year-old boy.

“There are those that believe that nothing’s wrong if the defendant is a woman and the victim is a male,” Tharpe said Monday. “This court does not recognize gender. If it’s proven, as an adult, that you had sex with a child, you can expect to go to prison.”

Finally there is a judge who gets it.

Now it’s wrong

I meant to write about the infamous Montana case, but did not get a chance. For those who missed it:

A former Montana high school teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old female student who later committed suicide will face only 30 days of jail time.

Stacey Dean Rambold, 54, had at least three sexual encounters with student Cherice Morales in 2008. In 2010, the student committed suicide a few weeks before her 17th birthday, The Billings Gazette reported.

Yellowstone County Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced Rambold to 15 years prison, with all but only 31 days suspended for sexual intercourse without consent. The judge then gave Rambold credit for one day served, bringing the offender’s total jail time to just 30 days.

Auliea Hanlon, mother to the victim, testified that her daughter’s relationship with Rambold was a large factor in the teen’s suicide. As the sentence was delivered, Hanlon began to scream “You people suck!” before leaving the courtroom.

That is a total embarrassment, particularly given the victim’s suicide. Sentences are supposed to reflect the nature of the crime, and one would think the girl killing herself would demonstrate the affect the abuse had on her.