For at least the past twenty years we have heard stories about teachers having sex with students. Many times, if the teacher is male, jail time is served. However, when female teachers do the same, many times, their punishment does not include incarceration.
Now, a teacher in North Carolina has been jailed for having sexual relations with a child. Summer Sparrow, a mother of two, had sex with a male student after picking him up from a car wash. The pair apparently had been flirting on Snapchat, and the student took nude photos of her after they had sex.
The part about her being jailed was a temporary thing. To avoid spending time in prison, Sparrow agreed to give up her teaching license in the Cherryville, North Carolina school system. In fact, she may never be formally convicted of sex crimes.
Sparrow was an AP English teacher at the time of her arrest. She says that she picked up the young man after dropping off her daughter at a party. This week, she accepted a deferred prosecution agreement, which means she may never be convicted. The agreement demands that she permanently give up her teaching license and stay away from anywhere students would congregate for a year.
Do you think the punishment fits the crime? She brought him into her home to have sex in her bedroom, and then dropped him off at a restaurant and warned him to not say anything.
His parents became aware of the situation when he was bragging to friends. During police interviews he described perfectly the layout of Sparrow’s house. Both of her own children are also teenagers.
Attempting a new career as a freelance writer, she refers to herself on social media as “Dirty Bird”.
Should she be required to register as a sex offender?
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