Teachers Could Face Criminal Charges Under Sexual Offences Act

Educators are being warned to exercise greater caution in how they relate to, and engage students in their care, as they could face criminal charges once the Sexual Offences Act is enacted.
Education Minister, Andrew Holness, in his contribution to the debate on the Act in the House of Representatives yesterday (Feb. 10), said that there have been many complaints about relationships between teachers and students, which could be described as indecent, but may not have been factored in any law as an offence. “This proposed law would now potentially capture such behaviours and classify them as offences, so we welcome that,” Mr. Holness stated.
According to the Education Minister, under section eight of the legislation, acts such as slapping, groping and touching, which would previously be thought of as only inappropriate, must now be seen as criminal, in the context of the relationship between the adult in authority and the student.
“If I were a teacher and this Act came into being, I would want to rethink how casually I engage my students…for too long, within the formal public space, we have tolerated casual interactions…and I think we have seen the growth of informality as acceptable…I would like to use the opportunity to alert the teaching profession, particularly our males, that we have to be very cautious in how, as adults in authority, we engage our students,” he stated.
Mr. Holness said the practice of teachers inviting students to see them privately could be construed as “sexual grooming,” and pointed to the need to address sexual harassment in the school environment, not just between teacher and student, but also student to student.
Meanwhile, Mr. Holness suggested that the maximum sentence for buggery should be made consistent with that of the offence of rape, as the provisions in their current form would suggest that rape was a greater crime than buggery.
“Technically, an adult in authority, who commits the act of buggery, would face a penalty of maximum 10 years, but if the offence is defined as rape (under section 8), then the offender would face a minimum 15 years, maximum life.so there is an inconsistency. If the male teacher commits buggery on a female, then technically, possibly, they could face 10 years, whereas if it’s rape as defined in the Act, they could get life, maximum,” the Education Minister pointed out.
He welcomed the move to establish a Sex Offenders Registry, which he said was very important for the Ministry, which was about to embark on a licensing exercise for teachers.
“We would want to be clear as to who would have access to the registry…certainly the Ministry would be in the front of the line, because we would want to be sure that the teachers, who we licence, do not have a record of a sexual offence. In fact, we will specify that you should not be captured in the registry in order to be approved for a licence to teach,” he stated.
The Sexual Offences Act 2008, seeks to bring under one umbrella, the various laws relating to rape, incest and other sexual offences and repeals the Incest (Punishment) Act and several provisions of the Offences Against the Person Act, relating to rape and other sex crimes.