Silent Classrooms, Loud Injustice: Intersecting Victim Characteristics in School Employee Sexual Abuse and Misconduct Cases

• In Event: New Directions in Research on Sexual Victimization

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact victim characteristics, such as age and gender, have on sentencing outcomes in school employee sexual abuse and misconduct cases (SESAM). The surge in media coverage on SESAM has brought attention to the issue of sexual predation within educational institutions. However, despite the public’s growing concern, there is limited empirical research on SESAM. This study addresses this gap by analyzing data obtained from the National Educator Sexual Misconduct Database (2008-2010) which includes cases involving physical sexual contact between school staff and students from 13 to 18 years of age. Applying an intersectional approach to focal concerns theory and victim-blaming theories, this study analyzes how victim age and sex interact to influence sentencing outcomes. Controlling for defendant demographics and charging information, regressions and margins estimates are calculated to assess the probability of incarceration and expected sentence lengths of school employees convicted of victimizing teenage students. The groups of students are divided into four groups, including young males, young females, older males, and older females. This study contributes to a better understanding of how SESAM cases are sentenced in courts and provides important insight that may inform policies to better prevent and intervene in such cases.

Author

• Marlena Grace Bolton, University of South Florida