Female Sex Offenders: Penalty Increases Imperative
by Thea Dean

Society sanctions the molestation of adolescent males.  In the last few decades child molestation has at last been brought out into the open.  As a result, extensive research has made great strides in the treatment of victims, as well as a larger number of molesters being not only brought to trial, but convicted as well.  However, society has been slower in acknowledging the harm done to adolescent boys by older women.  Only recently due to high profile cases like Mary Kay Letourneau, Sarah Bench-Salorio, and closer to home, Elisa Nielson, has public opinion begun to accept that women having sex with adolescent boys is molestation, just as damaging as men with adolescent girls.  The disparity in sentencing between male and female offenders is evidence that not only the public but the judicial system as well has continued to deny this is molestation, not a rite of passage. Penal sentences for female sexual offenders must be increased to a comparable level with men’s.

The sentences women offenders are receiving are just not comparable to men’s.  For example; Phillip Padilla of Van Meter, Iowa, was sentenced to twelve years for third degree sexual abuse and sexual exploitation by a counselor, therapist or school employee.  Padilla confessed sexual involvement with a fourteen year old student (Lett).  Another case in Concord, New Hampshire, involved Kevin Marquis, who admitted having sexual contact with two girls, one fifteen and the other fourteen.  He was sentenced to ten years with two years added unless he completes the prisoner sex offender program (Teacher Sentenced).  These sentences reflect the consensus: sex with adolescents is wrong and must be punished accordingly.  However, when the abuser is female and the victim is male, the penalty is rarely more than a slap on the wrist.

Elisa Dawn Nielson appealed her first sentence in Grady County, Oklahoma.  Associate District Judge John E. Herndon sentenced her to twenty years, ten to serve and ten on probation for sexually molesting an adolescent on her YMCA basketball team.  Although she had admitted guilt, at retrial Commanche County District Judge C. Allen McCall sentenced her to time served, 459 days, plus twelve years suspended with two years supervised and registering as a sex offender only through probation plus ten years.  This sentence allowed her to freely leave the court house (Clarke).  Is this woman’s victim any less deserving of reparation than Padilla’s or Marquis’?  No matter what part of the country, the attitude is the same, a woman can abuse young boys all she wants and face hardly any repercussions.

In Los Angeles, Sarah Bench-Salorio, plead guilty to lewd acts with three boys aged twelve to fourteen.  She had sex with two of them according to testimony during the preliminary hearing.  She was sentenced to six years and must register as a sex offender for life.  Allan Stokke, her lawyer said she could have been sentenced for up to sixty-four years if they had gone to trial (Lopez).  Bench-Salorino had sex with two adolescent boys and received six years while Marquis, having had sex with two adolescent girls, was sentenced to ten to twelve years.  More evidence of the denial of the harm these female molesters inflict upon their young victims.  However, perhaps concepts and attitudes will change now more victims are coming forward due to an infamous case that has been playing out over the last ten years.

Seattle, May 1997: Mary Kay Letourneau gave birth to a daughter fathered by her “soul mate”, Vili Fualaau, one of her twelve year old students.  After pleading guilty to child rape, she confessed her actions were wrong and she needed help.  She was sentenced to seven years, to serve three months under conditions.  One condition was to never have contact with Fualaau again.  Letourneau was released in January 1998, but by February 3, police caught her in a compromising situation in a car with Fualaau.  She was returned to prison for seven and one half years for child rape.  Back in prison Letourneau found she was pregnant again, and continued trying to contact Fualaau. One attempt to sneak letters out to him earned her six months in solitary confinement.  Mary Kay Letourneau was released from prison on August 4, 2004, at age forty-two.  Within two days Fualaau had the “no-contact” order removed, and they could legally visit at last (Montaldo).  Less than one year later, with their daughters acting as flower girls, on May 20, 2005, Mary Kay Letourneau and her “soul mate” Vili Fualaau were married (Intimate View).  Would the outcome be the same if Letourneau had been incarcerated longer, and had no contact with him?  Would he still have wanted to marry her if he had the opportunity to grow, mature, and decide for himself how he felt, without her influence?  Only time will tell how this marriage will play out, or the affects this affair will have on Fualaau, and their children as well.  The repercussions of this woman’s actions will continue to be felt for generations to come.  And as long as there is no fear of personal punishment or deprivation, these women will continue molesting.

Female sexual offender’s punishment must be equal to that of their male counterparts.  Male or female, the damage inflicted is the same; adolescent children are not physically, psychologically, or emotionally mature enough to have sexual relations.  Nor do they themselves come to understand this until years later when they have grown to adulthood.  It is the job of all adults, be they in authority positions such as parent, guardian, teacher, police, or just a member of the community, to guard and protect all children and adolescents from harm.  Author and sex counselor, Douglas Weiss, executive director of Heart to Heart Counseling Centers in Colorado Springs, told The Washington Times, the feelings garnered from sexual molestation are guilt, shame, and feelings of being alone, even more so than before. (Wetzstein)   On December 22, 2005, Vili Fualaau was stopped by police in Sea Tac, Washington for speeding and was arrested for drunken driving (Stritof).  Is this young man coping with his past, as well as his present situation?  Will there be more incidents such as this in his future?  If so, how will it affect his marriage and children?  In Hammonton, New Jersey, fifteen year old Jason Eickmeyer was a champion wrestler with hopes of advancing to a Division I school, until he was seduced by gym teacher, Traci Tapp, 26.  His grades dropped, he quit wrestling, and was suspended from school.  Tapp plead guilty to “offensive touching.” Her penalty was a $225 fine and being barred from teaching in public schools in New Jersey.  No jail time at all.  Jason contends, if she was male and he was female, she would have received the highest penalties (Female Sex Offenders).  As long as antiquated, sexist ideals continue to govern the judicial system, these and future generations of young boys will continue to suffer damage at the hands of female sexual predators.

Works Cited

Clarke, Jason. “Admitted Child Molester Walks Free.” The Express-Star 30 Aug. 2006. 25 Apr. 2007 <http://www.chickashanews.com/ breakingnews/local_story_242184720.html>.

"Female Sex Offenders: Double Standard?.”  CBS News 15 Jun. 2006. 27 Apr. 2007 <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/15/ earlyshow/printable1715421.shtml>.

"Intimate View of Mary Kay Nuptials." CBS News. 24 May 2005. 28 Apr. 2007 <http://www. cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/24/ earlyshow/leisure/printable697489.shtml >.

Lett, Stacie. “Van Meter Teacher Sentenced to 12 Years for Abuse.” Dallas County News 20 Apr. 2007. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://www.midiowanews.com>.

Lopez, Dave. "Teacher Gets Six Years for Lewd Acts with Boys.” cbs2.com 6 Jan. 2006. 28 Apr. 2007  <http://cbs2.com/ topstories/local_story_006155525.html>.

Montaldo, Charles. “Mary Kay Letourneau.”  About: Crime/Punishment. 28 Apr. 2007 <http://crime.about.com

Stritof, Bob, and Sheri Stritof. “Letourneau/Fualaan Timeline.”  About: Marriage. 27 Apr. 2007 <http://marriage.about.com>.

 “Teacher Sentenced for Having Sex with Students Asks for Pardon.”  The Boston Globe. 18 July 2006. 28 Apr. 2007 <http://boston.com>.

Wetzstein, Cheryl. “Women As Sexual Abusers.”  The Washington Times. 21 Mar. 2005. 24 Apr. 2007 <http://www.washingtontimes.com>.

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