Teacher who raped student gets 25 to life

[paulsby]

www.komotv.com

my favorite quote "my behavior was careless" . lol. repeatedly raping a 10 yr old is many things, but "careless"? seriously!

TACOMA, Wash. -- A former elementary school teacher who raped a 10-year-old student and his 15-year-old brother was sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in prison.

Jennifer Rice sobbed silently through much of the hearing before apologizing to the court.

"I'm desperately sorry for what I've done. I have acted without thinking," she said while wearing shackles and standing before the judge. "My behavior was careless. And I'm deeply ashamed for the part I've played in this devastating crime."

Rice was found guilty in April of molestation, kidnapping and two counts of child rape.

[MrModerate]

1. A sick puppy to be sure. But the "predatory" charge is bullshit.

Even if they can't write sufficiently serious penalties into rape, kidnapping, and molestation, creating a new crime out of thin air is hardly a reasonable solution.

[paulsby]

3. which "predatory charge"

i was looking at the charge sheet. i don't see a "predatory charge"

[LAGC]

5. The related article referenced by the one you linked:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/20125654.html

[MrModerate]

6. There was a link to another story about the sentencing . . .

That referenced a new crime of "predation" (maybe different wording) invented by the legislature last session.

[paulsby]

7. well, i;m a cop in WA state. can;'t figure out what you are referring to

and i searched my RCW database, and the only mention of the word "predation" in the entire RCW is in regards to a geoduck statute. so, i;'m still not sure what you are talking about. i even checked year 2009 amendments.

[MrModerate]

8. See LAGC post above. n/t

[paulsby]

10. i did.

i still need a specific link. i cannot figure out what the OP is talking about vis a vis predation.

i just arrested a child rapist a few weeks ago. i have yet to hear about any "predation" offense. if there is such an offense PLEASE educate me, because i should know about it. seriously.

[LAGC]

12. Washington State "Predatory Classification" passed in 2006.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/20125654.html

Rice is accused of taking one of 10-year-old students on a trip and having sex with him. She appeared in court Tuesday because the charge of being predatory carries a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison.

[paulsby]

14. thank you

i could find it, but that's understandable. it's a filing standard thang, and thus didn't show up in my RCW search. it's a prosecution thang, not a cop thang. regardless,i should know it exists. thanks for the help

[LAGC]

2. Thats unusual.

Usually women who molest kids get off light.

[paulsby]

4. marykay letourneau certainly did

but this kid was 10. i think that may play into the tough sentence.

[LAGC]

9. Yeah, she only got 6 months in jail the first time she did it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kay_Letourneau

But her victim was 13-years-old and she didn't kidnap him...

[paulsby]

11. yea

i know several people involved with that case. fwiw, letourneau served her time and is now married to the (now adult) kid. they live not TOO far from where i live. they had their wedding at a winery in woodinville. the people i feel sorry for are her husband and kids. i heard they left the state and changed their names. lol . can you imagine.

[Hannah Bell]

16. she's ugly. thus the harsh sentence.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/51588717.html

when women do it, it's not rape unless the woman is ugly.

[armyowalgreens]

13. I hope she gets help.

Until she does, she needs to remain locked up.

[optimal-tomato]

15. I'm a sexist. I admit it.

If the woman is attractive, and the kid is above, say 13 or so, and it was "consentual", then I have trouble considering it that big a deal. But if the woman isn't attractive, I've got more of a problem with it. And if it's a girl with an older man, I've got no tolerance for it.

I know it probably does screw with the kid's development, but when I was a 13 year old boy, it was my ultimate fantasy... I'd feel like a hypocrite if I turned around and condemned it now that I'm an adult...

[stillrockin]

17. There's a world of difference between fantasy and reality.

In a fantasy, anything goes. I don't see your attitude so much as sexist, but rather as immature and self-serving, catering to your own specific desires and projecting them outward. Adults should protect children from predators, even those with attractive shells. Pretty is as pretty does.

[optimal-tomato]

18. I understand and largely agree.

And there is undoubtedly predation of children happening in some (probably most) of these cases. But at the same time, every teen boy wants to hook up with a hot adult (often a teacher). If it had happened to me, I'd have been thankful for it.

Ultimately, it comes down to what the kid is expecting, what the kid wants, and whether or not they can handle the reality. If a 13 year old kid just wants sex without any strings and they get it, it's hard for me to feel like some great injustice has happened. This happens among teenagers all the time. In most of these cases, I recognize that there are claims of love and commitment that actually complicate the matter, but still...

I'm not saying it's alright. I'm not saying it should be legal. I'm just saying that it's hypocritical for me (and a lot of other people) to condemn something now that we would have welcomed for ourselves.

[armyowalgreens]

19. That's not being hypocritical...

It's called growing up and gaining hindsight.

[optimal-tomato]

20. No, it's hypocracy.

It's "do as I say not as I do/did".

I can say that it's probably not healthy for the kid or the adult. I can repeat that it is illegal, and that it is good that it is illegal. I would advise against it if anyone sought my council on this.

But can I blame the kids for wanting to do this? No. Can I blame them for jumping at the chance if it comes along? No. Of course, the adult should have been restrained, but in a world with so many problems, I can't get upset about a kid getting lucky with teacher. With so much suffering from abusive marriages, purchased wives, and child prostitution that continues on to this day, Mary Kay Letourneau's (apparently loving) relationship with a student is just such small potatoes...

[armyowalgreens]

22. You aren't making sense...

You are assuming that you have the same experience and intellect now as you did as child. Which is weird.

I liked throwing dirt clods at cars when I was a little kid. That doesn't mean I'm a hypocrite for being against it now. It means I learned.


Your position lacks logic. I never said you had to blame the kid. The kid is ignorant.

[armyowalgreens]

23. Also, I don't think you know what being a hypocrite is...

Being a hypocrite is doing something that goes against what you teach or what you believe.

With that in mind, your idea that you are being a hypocrite doesn't make any sense. You didn't know any better as a kid and you lacked maturity.

[optimal-tomato]

27. You seem to think all children are idiots.

I'm not saying that a child's intellect is fully developed, but neither is an adult's. Your brain doesn't suddenly "turn on" when you turn 18. That age is purely arbitrary, and much older than "adulthood" begins compared to nearly every other human society. In reality, humans develop over a very long period of time, formed by experience and the biological processes of aging.

Of course these kids are more vulnerable than they would be as adults, and no one is saying that they are fully responsible for making their own decisions. But to pretend that they are mud-pie throwing Dennis the Menace stereotypes is insulting. Kids have sexual urges and engage in sexual behavior all the time. Are you saying that they necessarily lack the maturity to experience those feelings or express them responsibly?

At the end of the day, I'd rather a kid be able to express themselves, explore their sexual feelings in a safe environment, and engage in a loving relationship, if the alternative is frustration or a superficial relationship with a peer.

Edit: I didn't intend to create a false dichotomy. Of course, if they can have that loving relationship with a peer, all the better. I'm just saying that there are far worse situations than an a conceivable relationship with an adult.

[RadiationTherapy]

21. Can you explain the attractiveness part? What difference could it make?

[optimal-tomato]

25. That's why I admitted to sexism.

I've heard about these cases and it changes the way I see the case. If the woman is hot, then you don't really feel that the kid was victimized (when they were apparently otherwise consenting), but if the woman is not, it feels like the kid was being taken advantage of more.

I'm not saying it's right, just that it happens. Unfortunately, it seems to affect the sentencing these women get, which sucks.

[RadiationTherapy]

26. What about the age of the boy? What about the unequal power dynamic between an adult and a boy?

[optimal-tomato]

28. I take it into account.

What about the unequal power dynamic between men and women in the vast majority of the societies that have made up the history of the human race? At the end of the day, human relationships are messy, complicated, and really difficult to comment on when you're not directly involved. As I said above: There are really bigger fish to fry, as far as I'm concerned.

Of course it should be illegal, and it should be discouraged. But I'd rather spend the public attention on routing out sex tourism involving children much younger than this, who are being forced to do things against their will.

[Lars39]

30. A 13 year is still a child...the body may function and look like an adult's body,

but the mind is still that of a child.

[joeunderdog]

24. Nice to see it called Rape and not a soft-serve version of what it's called with a female perp.

[Berry Cool]

29. Sadly, there is still a double standard at work, as we can see from this thread alone.

The double standard says:

Man w/underaged girl = rape, every time, no matter what

"Ugly" woman w/underaged boy = rape (she can be presumed to having taken advantage of the boy because she couldn't attract a man)

"Hot" woman w/underaged boy = not rape; on the contrary, every teenage boy's fantasy come true; he has no complaints to make, lucky bastard, wish I were him, etc.

It's sad and disgusting.