Prosecution of professor/student sex as official misconduct

This post deals with the acquittal of ISU professor Michael Forbes after his bench trial on official misconduct charges. The idea that professor/college student sex is or can be criminalized using this statute may be far fetched, but lets look more closely.

Official misconduct, in layman's terms, is defined as using a position in government to obtain favors or other advantages. A public university employee is technically a government employee, and sexual encounters with students, even students which may be older than the sexually boundary-confused employee, count as favors and perks. So McLean County (which includes Normal, IL, where ISU is located) prosecutors saw the sexual misconduct by professors against students as official misconduct.

The tactic of charging teachers/professors with official misconduct for sex with students over the AOC is a tactic which has been used before. Timothy Zisa, as described in this blog, was sentenced to 5 years on probation and barred from teaching or holding other public employment in NJ for sex with 2 18 year old students.

I agree with the prosecution of sexual encounters between public college employees and students as official misconduct. If the professor who had sex with his student was a high school teacher and a 16 year old girl, there would have been prison time. The lack of prison time is due to a dismissal of victims over 18 as true victims.

Women high school teachers who have sexual relationships with students over 16 are now getting prison time, and 21 and 17 are not a whole lot different in maturity. If a boy who is in his mid to late teens can be damaged by sex with a female teacher who is around 30, then a woman in her early 20s can be damaged with a sexual relationship with a professor in college. When it comes to a position of power, college professors and high school teachers have similar power and influence over their students.

I disagree with Judge Fitzgerald's contention that Forbes wasn't in a position to influence grades, because he was the victim's professor. Professors have the power to raise grades of students they are over, regardless of whether the student asks for the favor or not. The fact that former Professor Forbes had a employer-employee relationship with the student as a babysitter is an example of a dual relationship, something frowned upon by most professions.

If sex between a high school teacher and student is illegal, and this case between a professor and a college student was prosecuted as a felony, due to the implication of grades for sex, then perhaps Illinois (and other states') official misconduct laws can be expanded to include professor-student sex in public universities, if they can't be interpreted that way already.

In the case that official misconduct can't be expanded to cover professor/college student sex under existing constructs, perhaps it's time to criminalize professor-student sex, and a start would be making sex between professors and college students official misconduct or sexual imposition of a vulnerable adult. There are people who believe in laissez-faire when dealing with sexual relationships between adults, but the candy store should be closed regardless of age if you are teaching a student. Young adults and their parents need to be protected when the potential victim is over 18 or the local AOC just as much as if the victim was under 18.