Lower Moreland math teacher charged with sex assault on student

[Gingersnap]

Lower Moreland math teacher charged with sex assault on student

CAROLYN DAVIS, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Friday, January 24, 2014, 6:14 PM
POSTED: Friday, January 24, 2014, 10:04 AM


A Lower Moreland High School math teacher was charged Friday with sexual assault and other crimes after she allegedly had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male student.

Police said Erica Ann Ginnetti, 33, of Philadelphia, initiated the tryst when she approached the teen at a school dance in May and asked him to "come work out at her gym."

Within weeks, they were communicating daily and Ginnetti, who is married and has young children, began sending the teen sexually charged text messages, photos and videos of herself, police said. After they had sex last summer, the teacher allegedly told him to keep their encounter a secret.

The school district said Friday that it had suspended Ginnetti, who has been with the high school since 2007, with plans to fire her. She has been out of the school since last week, said Marc Neff, Ginnetti's lawyer.

Ginnetti surrendered Friday morning and was charged with institutional sexual assault, corruption of minors, and disseminating obscene materials to a minor, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Lower Moreland Township Police Chief Peter C. Hasson said in a statement.

According to an affidavit filed in the case, police learned about the relationship from a phone call to ChildLine, a statewide hotline to report suspected child abuse.

The caller reported hearing a younger sibling, who had attended Lower Moreland, talking about inappropriate photos Ginnetti had sent the student. Police later confronted the alleged victim and Ginnetti and both acknowledged their relationship, the affidavit said.

In July, Ginnetti and the student met at a Starbucks in Northeast Philadelphia then went to an industrial park along the border of Philadelphia and Lower Moreland and had sex, police said.

Ginnetti then asked the 17-year-old to keep their encounter a secret.

Investigators also retrieved copies of the text messages, photos and videos from the student's cell phone.

School district officials placed Ginnetti on administrative leave last week when they learned about the allegation, Superintendent Marykay Feeley said.

"We are now moving swiftly to terminate her employment and will take all steps necessary to ensure the teacher does not teach again," she said.

Teachers in the Lower Moreland district took an online training course on harassment prevention in 2011, a spokeswoman said.

At the beginning of each school year, principals in each building also review with staff the district's policies on child abuse and unlawful harassment. The district plans to provide teachers in the spring with training on mandated reporting of child abuse, the spokeswoman said.

Ginnetti was arraigned Friday morning by District Judge Jay S. Friedenberg and freed on $50,000 unsecured bail.

The judge ordered her to surrender her passport and barred her from contacting the victim or having unsupervised contact with minors, except her own children. Ginnetti also was to be placed on GPS monitoring.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next month.

Well, at least the school seems to be doing something. I really wonder what's changed so much in our culture that young (and not so young) women think it's okay to have sex with students.

Why do they think they can get away with it when so many kids talk or text about the relationship?

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/br...2E1lzGM32ye.99

[Novaheart]

I blame Phil and Oprah. They are the ones telling these old saggy women that they are sexy.

[Gingersnap]

I blame Phil and Oprah. They are the ones telling these old saggy women that they are sexy.

This one seems fairly 'teacher hot' but even so. Why do people (both men and women) find pliable, empty-headed targets so sexually enticing? I know the intellectual arguments but I don't get it emotionally. Why seduce a dummy? Where's the thrill?

[Frostbit]

This one seems fairly 'teacher hot' but even so. Why do people (both men and women) find pliable, empty-headed targets so sexually enticing? I know the intellectual arguments but I don't get it emotionally. Why seduce a dummy? Where's the thrill?

The money shot (google it)

[Novaheart]

The money shot (google it)

I did and got a picture of Epatha Merkerson.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

I did and got a picture of Epatha Merkerson.

I think SHE's hot.

[Gingersnap]

The money shot (google it)

I'm not doing that. If you mean easy sex, isn't all of it easy now? Couldn't she have just walked into a bar and let everybody know that she wanted some?

Men might have to beg for sex but what normal-looking woman does?

[Celeste Chalfonte]

Having taught middle school and high school, I can't imagine why ANYONE would want to have sex with a teenaged boy, including a teenaged girl. I can't understand any adult wanting sex with someone as capable of generating pointless drama as a teenager of either sex, but at least teenaged girls bathe regularly, so I suppose a male teacher who isn't too picky about informed conversation is somewhat understandable. The female teachers who take up with 14-year-old boys? Is there a fetish for people who like sex partners who smell like week-old gym socks?

[scott]

Well, at least the school seems to be doing something. I really wonder what's changed so much in our culture that young (and not so young) women think it's okay to have sex with students.

Why do they think they can get away with it when so many kids talk or text about the relationship?

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/br...2E1lzGM32ye.99

You've never seen Mrs. Robinson?

This is not a new phenomenon.

[Novaheart]

You've never seen Mrs. Robinson?

This is not a new phenomenon.

Benjamin was 22 years old.

Summer Of '42 featured a 15 year old boy and a twenty something woman. I read an article many years ago in which the author said he had gotten a letter from the woman apologizing to him. I assume this is because times changed and we went from thinking that Summer of '42 was sweet to it being considered sex crimes. In any event, he wrote back to her thanking her and assuring her that she had done no damage, not to mention that the story had made him a wealthy man.

What we have done is to artificially extend childhood… and we have been successful at that. My niece was certainly not ready for sex at 15, and I really don't know if she had seriously contemplated it. While intelligent and mature in many ways, she was more childlike (less independent, less adventurous) at 15 than her mother. AT 15 Celeste could drive, hold her own in a fist fight, stand up to peer pressure and abusive adults, etc…

At 16, my friends and I had fake ID's and went to bars and discos. We were not interested in people our own age as much as we were football players, fashion models, and David Hasselhoff type bartenders.

[Gingersnap]

You've never seen Mrs. Robinson?

This is not a new phenomenon.

As Nova pointed out, that example is no example. The woman wasn't in a position of authority, the man was a man, and all the actors had the freedom to disassociate - something not available to a student.

For whatever reason, teacher culture just isn't doing enough to condemn this kind of thing. Schools have all kinds of laws against the sexual manipulation of students by teachers (and they should) but it's the teaching culture that has to enforce the right mind-set.

It should never be okay. For every instance where the student is sexually experienced, willing, and able to deal with the consequences of being in a relationship with a flawed adult, there are zillions of instances where the student will be derailed one way or another as a result.

[scott]

I don't think this is ok, I just don't see this as new.

[Novaheart]

As Nova pointed out, that example is no example. The woman wasn't in a position of authority, the man was a man, and all the actors had the freedom to disassociate - something not available to a student.

For whatever reason, teacher culture just isn't doing enough to condemn this kind of thing. Schools have all kinds of laws against the sexual manipulation of students by teachers (and they should) but it's the teaching culture that has to enforce the right mind-set.

It should never be okay. For every instance where the student is sexually experienced, willing, and able to deal with the consequences of being in a relationship with a flawed adult, there are zillions of instances where the student will be derailed one way or another as a result.

I can't imagine how any teacher alive today could not see this as stupid behavior even if he doesn't think it's inherently wrong. I don't think it's an issue of teacher culture. Surely part of it is that we are hearing about it when it really isn't national news.

[Norm dePlume]

Perhaps we could line the classrooms with mugshots of teachers who've been arrested for sexual relations with students, along with "through the bars" portraits of the ones who've gone to prison. Make a collage of the images and laminate them to the tops of the teachers' desks.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

Benjamin was 22 years old.

Summer Of '42 featured a 15 year old boy and a twenty something woman. I read an article many years ago in which the author said he had gotten a letter from the woman apologizing to him. I assume this is because times changed and we went from thinking that Summer of '42 was sweet to it being considered sex crimes. In any event, he wrote back to her thanking her and assuring her that she had done no damage, not to mention that the story had made him a wealthy man.

What we have done is to artificially extend childhood… and we have been successful at that. My niece was certainly not ready for sex at 15, and I really don't know if she had seriously contemplated it. While intelligent and mature in many ways, she was more childlike (less independent, less adventurous) at 15 than her mother. AT 15 Celeste could drive, hold her own in a fist fight, stand up to peer pressure and abusive adults, etc…

At 16, my friends and I had fake ID's and went to bars and discos. We were not interested in people our own age as much as we were football players, fashion models, and David Hasselhoff type bartenders.

Actually, while I appreciate the complimentary recollections, I probably had more trouble standing up to peer pressure than HRH, who has pretty much always gone her own way on that. For example, she didn't start drinking and toking when the X-boy did, because she doesn't like the taste and doesn't like how he acts when he's drunk. And she told him to quit calling and texting her when he is. She would love to go to adult places to dance but since getting caught now costs you your driver's license (even if you're not drinking) none of the kids do that any more. And she's pretty good at dealing with abusive adults.

You're right about sex, but I'm not sure in her case if that isn't a case of being impervious to peer pressure. I wasn't ready for sex at 15 or 16 either and I was actually 20 when I finally decided to get it over with (unimpressed). The other sister - the one who most definitiely did NOT deal well with abusive adults or peers - is the one who was having sex at 15. Yes, with a much older guy, and no, it was NOT child molestation, although it was certainly illegal and could have cost HIM his freedom, among other things. It was definitely her idea...which doesn't make it any less stupid on his part.

Each kid is different. Sister was ready for sex at 15 but didn't learn to stand up to assholes until she was a parent (and frankly, she still struggles with it). I wasn't ready for sex, but as the oldest, yes, I had no choice about learning to pick my fights and win them. It probably didn't hurt that I was born with the knowledge that I'm always right.