Amy Victoria Beck: teacher arrested for sex with teen student

In the "How many times has this happened" department, we have the very, very sad news of Amy Victoria Beck, a teacher who was arrested for having one count of unlawful sex and committing a leud act on a child, with a 14-year old student. The 33-year-old mother of three walked into Burbank, California Police Headquarters and confessed to the affair when started in March 2009 according to The Huffington Post.

Amy Beck has been sentenced to two years in jail and bail was set at $175,000 (she did not post it), but has served six months already because she gave herself up rather than police arresting her. She could get out earlier with good behavior plus the fact that her husband's an LA police officer.

Amy Beck and her husband remain married and he's standing by her.

Frankly, it seems that this does happen a lot. So much so that are websites devoted to coverage of such news like Hott For Teacher and Bad Bad Teacher, which reports another recent sex scandal where 30-year old Jennifer Gardel, a teacher at Las Vegas High School in Las Vegas, allegedly had sex with a 17-year-old student in her home and even in her classroom. She confessed and was in jail as recently as May 5th, but released.

Sexual Misconduct is such a large problem that the website KSL.com claims its the number one reason why teachers are forced to surrender their licenses. The website reports...

Records shows Utah has nearly 20,000 licensed educators. Since 1992, the State Board of Education has suspended or revoked 313 teacher licenses -- 208 of them for sexual misconduct. That number excludes 10 cases still being investigated by the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission.

In 2005, The Associated Press conducted a survey that revealed 2,500 sexual incidents in just five years and "across all types of school districts," according to MSNBC.

Contrary to the media's pattern of reporting female teachers, nine of ten cases involve men. And the survey states that the teachers involved generally receive awards for excellence in education and are popular with students.

A copy of the Associated Press report can be downloaded here: AP STUDY.

The study is more report than data-laden case study. Moreover, the missing part is what role the students have in this. All of us remember one particular teacher we thought was "hot" when we were in middle school and high school. Some guys thought it would prove they were a man if they could make a pass at a teacher, but frankly that was very rare as I recall.

But what I remember most is that when I was "little" the teachers were generally much older than the students; in their 40s and 50s. The teachers reported here seems to be younger today, especially the women.

Why it happens? Who really knows. But it seems like one side of the story is being told and not the whole story.