Marla Gurecki-Haskins, a high school teacher from western New York’s Canandaigua City School District has been accused of having sex with a 17-year-old student.
Gurecki-Haskins is charged with official misconduct for allegedly having oral sex with a 17-year-old student at the Canandaigua Academy where she has worked since 1995. The charges would be more serious, but 17 is the age of consent. We wonder how the 17-year-old’s parents are reacting to the law of age of consent.
On top of the “official misconduct” charge, Gurecki-Haskins, 36, allegedly invited at least two 16-year-old boys to engage in sexual acts with her through text messages. According to official court documents, Gurecki-Haskins is accused of “participating in the nature of text messaging that encourages sexual intercourse between the accused and two male students 16 years of age.”
Police have been investigating the accusations against Marla Gurecki-Haskins since early April, and the investigation into the teacher’s misconduct is not over. Officials say they have between 2,400 and 2,500 pages of emails and text messages to examine.
Unfortunately, Marla Gurecki Haskins’ misconduct with young students is not the first case of a female educator taking advantage of their position in an educational institution. High profile cases similar to this one include Mary Kay Letourneau, who served 7 1/2 years in prison for raping a minor — a student of hers. After serving her sentence, Letourneau married her victim, Vili Fualaau, and raised two children with him.
What would cause the long list of seemingly upstanding young female teachers to engage in such inappropriate acts with young students? Is this an epidemic in our school systems? And what can be done to prevent these terrible violations against our kids?
