Welcome back to Come Back with a Warrant podcast. I'm Brandon Denitz. And I'm Monica Shack.
Before we kick-start this week's episode, this is your reminder that this podcast is not legal advice. It's real, unfiltered, and for entertainment purposes only. If you need to speak with a lawyer, call one. Or better yet, call us. Call us.
Welcome to Come Back with a Warrant. I'm Monica Shack. And I'm Brandon Denitz.
And today we will be talking about teacher/student relationships. The inappropriate kind.
When does it cross the line? To being inappropriate? Yes.
Okay, so I start off, and I'm already kind of smirking at this because this is one of those subjects that is very controversial. Very. And really, every case is different.
And I think the way that the public looks at every case is different. And you have real concerns here because there is the potential for a young person to be exploited and taken advantage of sexually, and there is nothing okay with that.
That shouldn't be happening anywhere, anytime, in any scenario where there's no ability to give consent. That's just wrong entirely.
But the question and the cases that come up, and certainly the ones that get sensationalized in the news, are the stories where you have young teachers and older students.
Questions get raised that ultimately end in: does this person deserve to be a registered sex offender for the rest of their life?
And that is something that really destroys someone's life.
The law doesn't have any sort of middle ground. It actually takes it more seriously because the teacher is somebody that has power and authority over this person.
Because of that, the law treats this as a strict liability offense. Florida does not care if you're 17 and about to turn 18 tomorrow. You're not considered able to give consent based on your age.
And in addition to this being a sexual offense, this is also about taking advantage of a position of authority. That is one of the big things prosecutors focus on.
There are certain states where even if the student is 18, the relationship is still illegal simply because the student is enrolled in the school.
That is even scarier, because there are many high school students who are 18 or 19, and their teachers may be 25 or 26 years old.
You can very quickly have teachers in their early 20s in charge of students who are close in age.
It's also important to note that students today often don't look their age. Social media has changed everything.
They're exposed to adult content, adult aesthetics, adult conversations, and that changes how they're perceived and how they present themselves.
But this has been happening for a long time. This isn't new. It just happens more often now, and it gets more attention.
A lot of these cases come to light because parents find out. And parents do not think it's okay.
Consent is not a defense in Florida in this situation.
The real issue becomes whether someone should be labeled a sex offender for life in scenarios where the age difference is minimal but the position of authority exists.
The law is black and white, but life is not.
We look at totality of the circumstances in most areas of the law, but not here.
Once that label is applied, it affects where you can live, work, and how you exist in society forever.
And once a teacher is accused, the media latches onto it immediately. These stories sell.
The facts of each case matter, but nuance is often lost.
Florida does have a Romeo and Juliet law that allows removal from the registry in certain consensual situations — but it does not apply to teacher/student relationships.
That exception is completely cut out due to the position of authority.
Technology plays a huge role in these cases. Text messages and social media often confirm the relationship, but they don’t help the defense.
Even if it was consensual, the law says consent does not matter under a certain age.
Teachers having students on social media is another major risk. There’s rarely a legitimate reason for it, and it creates the appearance of impropriety.
Every state is different, but this discussion is based primarily on Florida law.
This is a topic we’d love feedback on because it raises difficult questions about punishment, fairness, and long-term consequences.
So check the show notes. We’re on all platforms at comebackwithawarrant.pod.
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And if you don’t like listening to us… come back with a warrant.
