Teacher-Student Sex, Georgia Law's Loophole Make Some Worry

Nov. 24, 2009 — -- Lawmakers in Georgia are working to close what they say is a loophole in the state law that has already freed at least two teachers who were jailed for having sex with their students.

In June, the Supreme Court in Georgia ruled in a 5-2 decision that a female teacher who had been convicted of assault against her 16-year-old female student should have been allowed to use consent as a defense in court.

The student, who was not named, testified that she had initiated the relationship with 28-year-old Melissa Lee Chase, but her statements were barred from being used during the trial. The age of consent in Georgia is 16.

Chase was subsequently released from jail.

The statement by the majority of the court said the law specifies that only certain relationships between people in authority and their subordinates – a psychotherapist and his patient or a police officer and a criminal in custody, for example – were not allowed to use consent in their defense.

No mention of using consent as a defense in a teacher-student relationship was noted in the statute.

The court also said that by not allowing consent as a defense could result in "absurd results," such as a "30-year-old law school professor being found guilty of sexual assault for having an encounter with a 50-year-old law school student."

State Rep. Kevin Levitas, D-Atlanta, says that the state Supreme Court misinterpreted the law and is now introducing a House bill to fix the problem he says could allow children to become victims at the hands of their teachers.

"I'm trying to make sure that a teacher is not able to claim consent as a defense to having sex with one of his or her students," Levitas told ABCNews.com.