Difference between revisions of "Child endangering Cobb County judge prepares for senior judgeship"

In 2009, Christian Boone of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) authored an article entitled ''It’s gross, but it ain’t illegal: Judge says teacher not guilty for having sex with student.''<ref>[https://www.ajc.com/news/local/gross-but-ain-illegal-judge-says-teacher-not-guilty-for-having-sex-with-student/Uob206vfJYQuOOtNcpID7K/ Christian Boone, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), ''It’s gross, but it ain’t illegal: Judge says teacher not guilty for having sex with student'' (2009)].</ref> The article discusses how Judge Flournoy issued a directed verdict to bypass the jury in a case against a 36-year-old Marietta High School teacher who admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student. "It's gross, it's awful, but it ain't illegal," said Flournoy according to the article. "This was a consensual relationship." The prosecutor in the case, Maurice Brown, argued that the teacher used his position to take advantage of a romantically naive teenager. "He led her to believe he was in love with her . . . . He led her to believe she was in love with him." Navigating Justice consulted with Marietta Attorney, Matt McMaster regarding the shortcomings of Georgia's child protective laws, past, present and future, and here was his breakdown:

At the time that the ''It’s gross, but it ain’t illegal'' article was printed in 2009, O.C.G.A. § 16-6-5.1(b)-(c) read in relevant part:

As is apparent, the use of the term “subsection” restricted (c)(3) to apply only to subsection (c) of O.C.G.A. § 16-6-5.1. Had the term “Code section” been used in place of “subsection,” the former Marietta High School teacher, Mr. Christopher King, would have undoubtedly been found guilty in that case. The Georgia Legislature re-wrote O.C.G.A. § 16-6-5.1 the following year (2010) closing the loophole by adding subsection (e), which reads: “Consent of the victim shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this Code section.”