Female Predators III

Teacher-Student Sex: Another Case?

Feb. 9, 2005

(CBS) A teacher in Tennessee has been accused of having sex with one of her students, who is 13.
The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler says Pamela Turner, 27, taught physical education, and was married to a high school basketball coach. But she's been charged with statutory rape.

Prosecutor Dale Potter says, "Some people don't look at it as serious, but if you reverse the roles and make it a male on a female, then everyone gets really upset, and it's considered really serious."

Potter adds Turner won't be given special treatment because she's a woman: "We intend to prosecute it as aggressively as we do our other sex cases."

Turner is free on a $50,000 bond. The school system has placed her on leave.

Of course, notes Syler, this is hardly the first time a teacher has been accused of having a physical relationship with a student.

Perhaps the most infamous case involved Mary Kay Letourneau, a Seattle teacher whose relationship with a sixth-grader, ultimately produced two children. Letourneau spent seven years behind bars.

Last December, Debra LaFave, a middle-school reading teacher in Florida, was charged having sex with a 14-year-old.

Her lawyer, John Fitzgibbons, asserts, "Debbie has some profound emotional issues that are not her fault." He plans an insanity defense when her trial comes up later this year.

"Three young, attractive teachers, all accused of sexual misconduct," Syler sums it up.

On The Early Show Wednesday, her husband, Owen LaFave, told Syler, "My heart goes out to the husband. I know exactly what he's going through and I'd actually just like to offer him personally, although he probably won't take me up on it, the opportunity to call me and talk to me if he should choose to do so.

"He just has to remain strong. Don't let pride get in the way. Find your support system, whether it be friends, or family, or church. Seek out professional help. Don't be embarassed. While I realize he's going through a sense of humiliation, reach out to people.

"It really strains the fabric of your family. It's really amazing the power that the press has to really affect your family. There was a point in time when we had no private alone time as a family at all. It seemed that everywhere we went we were being followed. Every time you turned on the news or read a newspaper, it just was ubiquitous. Everywhere you went, you heard something and it's very challenging for a family."

LaFave adds that he was "absolutely stunned" when he first learned Debra had been arrested, "and I have a very difficult time articulating exactly how I felt that day. It's something I still have a difficult time putting my finger on. It's just a tremendous rush of indescribable emotion, and just shock and anguish, I think."

They were only married 11 months when Debra was arrested.

With her lawyer planning an insanity defense, does Owen think Debra was capable or is capable of knowing the difference between right and wrong?

"You know," he answered Syler, "that's not my decision to make. I think you can look at the police reports and there's a certain indication that she knew what she was doing was wrong. However, I'll leave that decision to psychologists and to the jury and to the judge if it should go to trial."

Tennessee Teacher Charged With Sexual Battery

McMINNVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An elementary school teacher has been charged with having sex with one of her students, a 13-year-old boy, at his home and at school, authorities said Tuesday.

Pamela Turner, 27, was charged Monday with 15 counts of sexual battery by an authority figure and 13 counts of statutory rape for acts between November and January.

Turner, who teaches physical education at Centertown Elementary, lived at the boy's house "for a brief period of time when she was moving from residence to residence," Warren County prosecutor Dale Potter said. The boy's parents did not know anything about the relationship, he said.

Potter said Turner was arrested Monday in Clarkrange, her hometown about 55 miles northeast of McMinnville in central Tennessee.

Conviction on all counts could be punished by up to 100 years in prison. But Potter said it was more likely that a conviction would mean a minimum of a year to several years in prison.

Turner is free on $50,000 bond. She's been placed on leave by the school system.

A telephone message left at the home of her father, who lives in Clarkrange, was not immediately returned Tuesday evening.

Turner's husband filed for divorce in January, alleging inappropriate marital conduct, according to the Southern Standard newspaper in McMinnville.

Warren teacher faces sexual battery, rape charges

By LEON ALLIGOOD
Staff Writer

A female teacher at a rural Warren County elementary school has been charged with having an ongoing sexual relationship with a 13-year-old male student, authorities said.

Pamela Rogers Turner, 27, was arrested in Fentress County on Monday after being indicted by a grand jury in Warren County. Turner grew up in Fentress. The former teacher at Centertown Elementary is charged with 15 counts of sexual battery by an authority figure and 13 counts of statutory rape, according to local District Attorney General Dale Potter.

The alleged sexual contact between teacher and student occurred between November 2004 and this January.

Potter said the investigation revealed that Turner had lived at the boy's home for a short time.

''At some point between November and January of this year she stayed there briefly while she was changing residences,'' the prosecutor noted. He declined to answer questions about either the boy or his parents.

Turner is divorcing Chris Turner, head boys basketball coach at Warren County High School, the Southern Standard newspaper in McMinnville reported yesterday. They were married in July 2003, and Chris Turner filed for divorce Jan. 14, citing inappropriate marital conduct by his wife.

The investigation of the teacher's relationship with the teen was initiated by complaints to the McMinnville Police Department and the district attorney's office.

Bobby Cox, director of instruction for Warren County schools, said Turner had been a teacher in the Warren County system for about 1½ years. She taught physical education and worked with all grades at the K-8 grade school.

''She had taken a leave of absence about two weeks ago, and at this point nothing has been done to change that,'' Cox said.

Turner is free after posting $50,000 bail. She faces a Feb. 23 court appearance. She could not be reached for comment yesterday. There was no answer at a possible phone listing for her.

Inevitably, comparisons have been drawn between the Warren County case and the infamous case of Mary Kay Letourneau, the Washington state elementary schoolteacher who had a prolonged relationship with a male student. She gave birth to two children fathered by the boy. She also went to jail for several years.

''I would be hesitant to say anything right now on that. I know a little bit about that case. There are some similarities, but hopefully the other parallels won't be there,'' Potter said.

Two Other Cases


Mary K. Letourneau	Debra LaFave

FEMALE PREDATORS

Sexual Deviation

Enter forums to discuss this case