Female teacher who has sex with male students gets probation

[davidn3600]

A former computer technology teacher at a Haltom City, Texas, high school who had multiple sexual encounters with several students was sentenced to four years' probation Monday.

Tonya Flink, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts of improper relationship between an educator and a student. She is now married to one of her victims, prosecutors announced Monday.

“This was an unusual case in that one victim married the defendant and was not cooperative,” Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Robert Foran wrote in an email to the Star-Telegram Monday. “The second victim is in agreement with the outcome. After taking into consideration all of the facts and circumstances of both cases, we felt this was an appropriate resolution.”

Documents obtained by the newspaper said Flink had a sexual relationship with at least four of her students at Haltom High School during the 2010 - 2011 school year. Two of the students refused to cooperate with authorities, but one victim told investigators that Flink said she liked "young Hispanic kids," and also said that she loved him.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/02/tonya-flink-teacher-sex-marries-student_n_4031904.html

This woman even went to one of her student's houses IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, and knocked on the back door because she was seeking sex.

Why do we bother have statutory rape laws if they are going to be so selectively enforced?

[Logical]

1. Total double standard. Women seem vulnerable. Men do not. n-t

[Dash87]

2. Boys being raped isn't as bad, according to the patriarchy.

This is an example of how the patriarchy hurts everyone.

[Bonobo]

4. Oh, "the patriarchy" said that, did they?

Perhaps by "patriarchy" in this case, you mean a couple of people on the internet?

[Dash87]

5. You really think only a few people on the internet think this way?

I don't.

[Bonobo]

8. You said the "Patriarchy"

Even if lots of people thought that, how is that the "Patriarchy"?

Is the "Patriarchy" defined, for you, as a "lot of guy's think that way"?

[Dash87]

21. "The patriarchy" isn't a bunch of super villains that convene together and make society suck.

The patriarchy is a structure in our society. It's part of our culture and social norms. It consists of the biases and stereotypes we have. It's another way of describing the current imbalances that society has with regard to gender inequality.

As for, "lot of guy's think that way," not quite (and it's not just "guys&quot in the same way that institutional racism isn't "a lot of people thinking that way." That's over-simplifying a complex subject. I could write 1000 pages on what the "patriarchy" is, really.

[steve2470]

3. I think part of the reason she got off easy, is because she married one of the victims

It doesn't make what she did right, but hey, she married one of them.

[Logical]

6. Well, there are another one. And a man would still go to jail. n-t

[steve2470]

9. a man probably would go to jail...although...I can't remember a case of a man marrying a victim

I'm not saying it's never happened but I can't remember one.

[Logical]

11. Neither can I. n-t

[kiva]

14. I'm not sure about that,

I've heard of several who didn't, and knew one high school teacher who married his ex-student - some talk, but he was never arrested or charged, and still teaches at the same high school.

[steve2470]

15. still teaches at same high school ? woah.... nt

[kiva]

20. Yeah, I find that a bit surprising too.

I can only assume there was no proof that they were involved while she was a student - if, indeed they were.

[LittleBlue]

7. As said above, she's married to one of the victims

I can't get too excited about this. Just prohibit her from teaching jobs in the future, give her probation and call it good. Seems pointless to punish her three kids and her husband/victim by imprisoning her.

[davidn3600]

26. Yes, but flip the genders...

Should a male teacher avoid prison if he marries a female student who he raped?

I would think that would piss off a few people.

[LittleBlue]

27. I agree there are double-standards

And I would apply my opinion equally to a man.

To me, blanket punishments are harsh. Some of the sentences for nonviolent crimes I think are excessive.

[1000words]

28. Flip the genders and words like "castration" would be lobbed about

[nomorenomore08]

31. Which is wrong as well. Barbarism serves no one's interests. n/t

[Nuclear Unicorn]

10. nicccce

[pediatricmedic]

22. That illustrates the double standard rather well, in a funny way

[Nuclear Unicorn]

25. It illustrates the double standard but that double standard is born of sexism

It's a sexism that says men are more culpable because they're lechs but it is also a sexism that says women ought to service men so it's not a crime.

[jsr]

12. A match made in heaven. They'll live happily ever after.

[Comrade Grumpy]

13. It's kind of weird to call the guy that married her a "victim."

I bet he doesn't think of himself that way.

And I may be hopelessly last century, but if a woman teacher had ever wanted to do that to me, I don't think I would have considered myself a victim, either.

[LittleBlue]

23. Yep.

We had a Spanish teacher who was rumored to be an ex-stripper. Probably a bullshit rumor like most rumors, but in fairness her physique convinced many it was true. Wore those short black skirts popular around the late 90s. I don't think any boys learned a word of Spanish in her class.

[davidn3600]

30. Then is a woman not a victim if she marries a man that beats her?

Whether abuse is physical, psychological, or sexual, and regardless of age or gender, it is not uncommon for victims of abuse to not view themselves as a victim. That's why they will typically not report or want charges pressed. And this is why the state will, in many of these cases, press charges on their own even without cooperation of the victim.

However, it is not equal prosecution in our current system. When you have a male-female situation, and the victim is male, it is not prosecuted as diligently as if it were the other way around. And THAT is the big problem.

[hrmjustin]

16. It is sad she is getting away with it.

[ripcord]

18. A friend in high school had sex with a female teacher a few times

He had horrible problems with girls his own age for years.

[hrmjustin]

19. Yes it can hurt people in many ways.

[A Little Weird]

17. Creepy

She should get jail time and be registered as a sex offender.

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. agreed

[theHandpuppet]

29. Agreed.

She belongs in jail.