Flash player is required to view weather conditions. Download

site web  

MASON – Teachers accused of having relationships with students should be prosecuted, a Mason citizens' group says.

But if the student is an adult, and no one wants to file charges, police can't prosecute, according to Mason Police Lt. Col. Steve Schuchart.

In April, Mason High School Principal Dave Allen and Assistant Superintendent Craig Ullery approached the department with allegations that then-music teacher Adam Brown was having a romantic relationship with an 18-year-old

student.

Mason Citizens for Accountability and Results in Education (CARE) said police should have treated Brown as a suspect from then on.

But Brown never was a suspect because neither the student nor her mother wished to file charges.

The girl told police the relationship only went as far as kissing and holding hands, according to Craig Ullery, the district's assistant superintendent of human resources.

"There's no crime to prosecute there," said Schuchart.

Administrators said they began investigating Brown on April 9 regarding rumors of a relationship. Brown resigned two days later.

The district will not say whether it had planned to terminate Brown's contract.

According to the Ohio Revised Code, the state board of education may suspend, revoke or limit a license of a school district employee "engaging in an immoral act, incompetence, negligence, or conduct that is unbecoming to the applicant's or person's

position."

CARE said teachers should be punished whether students are adults or not.

Mason CARE President John Meyer said the group is looking into legislation to make teacher-student relationships illegal, no matter the age of the student.

"We're setting our children up to be victimized," he said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4541 or dwilson@coxohio.com.