Records show tremendous growth in teacher sex cases

A week ago, a first grade teacher in Saratoga County was arrested and accused of sexually abusing elementary school students. A week earlier, an elementary school teacher in Erie County was arrested and accused of using the Internet to meet teenage boys for sex. But accusations like these add up to more than an occasional sex scandal that for a time shock a community.

An internal state Education Department report obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Law shows "tremendous growth" in so-called moral conduct cases against teachers over five years. The study found the number of accusations against teachers doubled in five years, to nearly one case for every day and a half of the school year. Almost three in four of the "moral conduct" cases involved sex between a teacher and student.

source: Article 'AP IMPACT: Records show tremendous growth in teacher sex cases' by Michael Gormley; www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--teachersex0217feb17,0,5471986,print.story; Newsday.com; 17 February 2007