Last month, Kimberly Crain, a third-grade teacher in Oklahoma, threw a Christmas party for a bunch of her little girl students. During this party, she dressed them up in lingerie and took their photographs. She has resigned, was arrested, and will face charges of manufacture of child pornography and lewd acts with a child, but seriously, what is going on? When is enough enough?
Lately it seems like everywhere you turn, there is another Jerry Sandusky-esque debacle of a story involving educators. And while this woman may or may not actually be a pedophile (she may have just been selling the photos), the idea that anyone we trust with our children would exploit that is truly nothing less than nauseating.
A group of parents has filed a lawsuit against the teacher, NBC station KFOR reported. Joe Vorndran, an attorney for six families, told KFOR:
I think there are significant civil rights that have been violated for these little girls, privacy issues. The level to which some of these photographs that may arise border on pornography.
Does it really "border" on pornography? Or is it simply just pornography?
As a parent, it feels more and more like there is no one we can trust around our kids. Is everyone a predator?
When a person like Crain does something like this, it has ripple effects. Now every parent whose child grows close to a teacher will worry that the teacher has nefarious intent. Now every teacher who grows close to a student will have to worry about being perceived this way. It's horrible and sick in so many obvious ways. But it also hurts in so many subtle ways.
Stories like this erode our trust and even corrode our memories. Could it be that every teacher we ever loved was secretly plotting something much less wholesome? Obviously, that is dramatic, but this kind of predatory behavior IS dramatic. And it needs to stop.
How many stories like this do we need to hear before we start locking these people up and throwing away the key?
Do you find this disgusting, too?
Image via sidewalk flying/Flickr
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Comments 32
Incredibly disgusting. People who turn children into sexual objects; be it through photographs or physical touch should be shot in the face and left in the sun to rot and be picked apart by wild animals.
Its more then just out of line, its sad. Sad, because when I was growing up in the 60s, being close to your teacher was like being part of the chosen ones. It was truly special. And being an 8 yr old 2nd grader, with low self esteem, my female teacher, the wonderful and great, Mrs Harrison, took me under her wing and helped me see the world differently. She helped me to enjoy reading and to learn how to speak up in a group. These little girls, Im sure, looked up to this woman as a mentor. She has violated a very secred trust and broken a golden cord. How dare her. May she regret her actions for the rest of her life and I pray that the little girls will come to understand and get over this ugly little bump in the road of their young lives.
"How many stories like this do we need to hear before we start locking these people up and throwing away the key?"
I'm really confused by this. By 'these people' do you mean teachers or pedophiles? Because when we catch pedophiles we do lock them up.
i can't believe this! kids are supposed to be able to TRUST teachers! it REALLY irritates me, my oldest is in kindergarten and hearing stuff like this makes me worry about who is teaching my kid....
There is no question whatsover about whether this woman is a pedophile. There has to be some kind of sick disconnect in her brain for her to be able to do that to these little girls no matter WHAT her intention was for the photographs.
" "How many stories like this do we need to hear before we start locking these people up and throwing away the key?"
I'm really confused by this. By 'these people' do you mean teachers or pedophiles? Because when we catch pedophiles we do lock them up. "
Very rarely does someone get locked up for life, which is what I think they are implying, at least thats how I took it. A lot of times they serve very little jail time, get out on parole and re offend and the cycle just keeps going until finally they have violated parole too many times.
This makes me sick. :( I feel so sorry for the children and families involved in this mess.