West Des Moines Dowling Catholic High School teacher Erin Rohwer, 28, was sentenced to 2 years probation and a SO registry listing yesterday on May 6 for having a sexual relationship with an 18 year old student.
After considering factors such as lack of priors, public humiliation, and her youth, Staskal decided to sentence her to probation, despite stating prison could be justified. Besides the aforementioned punishments, Judge Staskal also fined Rohwer $750 plus restitution to the victim and court costs, and he barred contact with the victim, his family, or other students.
"I struggled a lot to decide between probation and incarceration. Clearly, incarceration would send a powerful message. But I have concluded that incarceration, while it would definitely be warranted, is not an appropriate sentence given the other considerations." While Judge Staskal questioned Rohwer’s remorse, he decided to give her "the benefit of the doubt."
The former English department director was arrested in January and charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee for what school administrators described as a "possible inappropriate relationship" with a male student.
Rohwer, hired in 2003, was suspended after Dowling officials discovered the relationship. In a letter to parents, school president Jerry Deegan said he believed the relationship took place away from school.
In the 10 years ending in 2008, 31 teachers have had their licenses revoked by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners for sexual relationships with students. Sexual exploitation covers professionals who have sex with clients, parishioners, and other subordinates who are legal adults. A single encounter is an aggravated misdemeanor, and a pattern of sexual misconduct is a felony. Besides teachers, priests, counselors and a psychiatrist have been prosecuted for exploitation, according to Polk County Attorney John Sarcone.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment