music teacher "I read the arrest affidavit, and I wish I hadn't."
Mke
By Emily Minor, Palm Beach Post Staff Columnist
Saturday, January 10, 2004
When police investigate something -- a burglary, a rape, an anything -- they
often produce what's called a probable cause affidavit. It's essential
paperwork, crucial for the prosecution if the case ever gets to court.
I just finished reading the probable cause affidavit in the arrest of music
teacher Carol Lynn Flannigan, 49, the elementary public school teacher
arrested this week and charged with having sex with one of her students
since June 2002.
And I feel sick.
This next part is wrong, I know, but there's something different about a
pretty schoolteacher being arrested for a crime against a child. Flannigan
has long blond hair and a nice face. We look at her and remember our music
teacher from 30 years ago.
Female music teachers are soft and gentle and like to play the clarinet.
They draw dotted half-notes on the chalkboard and play recordings of Bach.
Besides, women don't do this.
But appearances can be oh-so deceiving.
Mental manipulation alleged
Sgt. Pat Galligan, a seasoned detective with Riviera Beach who for years
worked only crimes against children, said something I've been thinking about
since Flannigan's arrest on Wednesday: Women charged with sexual assault are
viewed differently from male counterparts -- simply because, as he puts it,
"you expect it to be a man."
"I think with a female, they're going to be looked at not as hard as a male
predator of children," Galligan said. "They're going to be looked at with
more sympathy."
But the details in the affidavit are heartbreaking -- down to the level of
mental manipulation, the extent of the sex and the boy's naive descriptions
of what happened. He was 11 when the relationship started, a student in her
music class. He's 13 now.
From the paperwork:
Before sex that first time, she told him, "I have a surprise for you." The
next day, she said if he told anyone he might get "taken away." As details
began to unravel, and he began to get help, she said, "Do you want to kill
me or get me in trouble?" She even said she might have to kill herself.
And near the very end, she offered him $1,000 to keep their secrets. The two
had engaged in sexual intercourse "on numerous occasions" over 19 months,
according to investigators.
But this boy -- bless him, please -- knew it was wrong. At one point, when
Flannigan told him she loved him "with all her heart," he replied: "It's
more than that, you know we had sex, that is more than a kiss."
Personal life in turmoil
The details of Flannigan's mental state and private life are unclear, but
both are in an apparent shambles. Flannigan's husband of 19 years, Douglas
DePue, filed for divorce last year, but they still live together. The couple
has a 16-year-old son who is autistic, but he is troubled beyond the autism.
Carol Flannigan summoned police to the family's Boca Raton home Jan. 30,
2003, and told officers her son became violent when she took away some CDs
as a form of discipline.
He held her in a bear hug. Flannigan broke free, called 911 and barricaded
herself in the garage. She was crying when the cruisers pulled up, according
to the officer's report.
On at least two other occasions, neighbors complained about her son's
aggressiveness and called authorities when he walked into their homes,
unannounced and uninvited.
All the sad story lines are trickling in as we take a look at the teacher
with the secret life. CNN is showing snippets. On Friday, 60 Minutes was
calling down here, sniffing around. This happens when pretty women are not
what they appear to have been.
All I know is, I read the arrest affidavit and I can't stop thinking about
that poor child.
I read the arrest affidavit, and I wish I hadn't.
Mke
Charges against Boynton Beach teacher shed light on role of women as sex
abusers
By Scott Travis
Education Writer
Posted January 11 2004
Sexual abuse against children used to be considered a man's crime.
And while the vast majority of cases still involve men, women have been
making headlines these days -- accused of having sexual relationships with
boys.
There have been three Florida cases involving women in recent months, as
well as several high-profile national cases.
The latest woman accused of sexual abuse is Carol Flannigan, a 49-year-old
music teacher at Rolling Green Elementary in Boynton Beach. She was arrested
amid allegations she had a 19-
month sexual relationship with an 11-year-old former student.
She follows other women who have been arrested for similar charges in recent
years, including:
Amy Duane, an elementary school data processor who pleaded guilty in
November to having sex with a 13-year-old who lived in her neighborhood west
of Lake Worth. She was sentenced to four years in prison.
Debra Favre, who admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old boy in Duane's
bedroom. Favre pleaded guilty in November. She is expected to be sentenced
next month.
Denise McBryde, a former private school teacher who was sentenced to three
years for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student in 1998 in
Tampa.
Probably the most famous, though, is Mary Kay Letourneau, a teacher in Kent,
Wash., who made national headlines when her affair with a 13-year-old
student produced two children.
"People think it's rare, but it's not," said Deborah Hermon, a psychologist
in Boca Raton. "The notion that a woman or a mother, someone who is supposed
to represent the ultimate in protection, could abuse a child is so
distressing and disturbing, people don't want to think about it. But it's
much more prevalent than many people think."
According to Justice Department figures, women are accused of committing
only 3 percent of sexual crimes against children.
But Hermon said many of the cases involving women either don't get reported
or don't lead to charges. She said it's hard to get DNA and other physical
evidence when a male has been sexually abused. And boys often feel there's a
stigma attached to being victimized by a woman, she said.
The mother of Duane's victim said she had never even thought of a woman
being a sex offender, until her family was affected. Her son, now 14, was
friends with one of Duane's children, and he spent a lot of time at her
house.
"When it comes to something like this, it's more publicized that men abuse
children," she said. "You don't see a woman as a sexual abuser."
She said that may be why she was never suspicious when she saw Duane spend
more time with young boys than with other adults. It was only when she found
suggestive e-mail messages that she suspected something.
Duane did not physically force her son into the sex, the mother said,
although he was well under the age of consent. The same is true for the boys
in the other cases.
But while the children may not feel like they're being abused, they are,
experts say, and the long-term effects are harmful.
"Children may not view themselves as victims, but as time goes on, they
realize they were taken advantage of," said Marsha Gilmer-Tullis, director
of family advocacy at the national Center for Missing and Exploited
Children.
Wendy Picard, a child psychologist in Boca Raton, said children in these
situations will feel anxious and nervous and have a distrust of adults. They
may have sleeping problems. They may experience embarrassment and shame and
act out sexually, she said.
Staff writer Sam Tranum and staff researcher Bill Lucey contributed to this
report.
Scott Travis can be reached at str...@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6637.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-cpteachersex11jan11,0,647672.story?coll=sfla-news-palm
steve sullivan
"Mke" <Noa...@homail.com> wrote:
> Amy Duane, an elementary school data processor who pleaded guilty in
> November to having sex with a 13-year-old who lived in her neighborhood west
> of Lake Worth. She was sentenced to four years in prison.
>
> Debra Favre, who admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old boy in Duane's
> bedroom. Favre pleaded guilty in November. She is expected to be sentenced
> next month.
>
> Denise McBryde, a former private school teacher who was sentenced to three
> years for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student in 1998 in
> Tampa.
So a 16 year old cannot have sex with an adult yet can be sentenced as
an adult and spend life in prison? Whats up with that?
Bo Raxo
"steve sullivan" <st...@spamhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:steve-410A06....@news.sf.sbcglobal.net...
And let's make it even nuttier: In *some* states it's perfectly legal for a
16 year old and someone well over 18 to have sex. Yet cross the line in to
a neighboring state and it's a sex crime.
Unless the 16 year old's parents give permission for them to marry, in which
case it isn't a sex crime in any state, despite being below the legal age of
consent.
How's that for consistency?