A Tishomingo alternative school teacher--who also happens to be the wife of the district superintendent--was arrested on Friday in the parking lot of the school where she works.
Shelly Jo Duncan, 48, was arrested on a complaint of lewd or indecent proposals or acts to a child under 16 after the parent of a 14-year-old student reported to authorities that she found evidence of inappropriate communication and contact between the teen and the teacher on the boy's cell phone.
Documents indicate that Duncan would communicate with the student via Snapchat, believing that their messages to each other would be erased. Investigators say that their messages included discussions about where they would have sex, and that Duncan would tell the teen about the sex acts that she wanted to perform on him, calling him "boo" and "love."
The boy allegedly told police that Duncan took him to her workplace where they "undressed and touched each other inappropriately."
The suspect's resume makes her seem an unlikely candidate for committing a sex crime against a minor: Duncan is an English teacher at a Tishomingo alternative school, but she is also the high school cheer coach and she is certified Pre-K through 12th grade school counselor. Formerly, she has worked as a Juvenile Justice Specialist at the Office of Juvenile Affairs. She has additionally worked for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections as a probation and parole officer, and she is currently a reserve officer with the Murray State College Police Department.
A sexual relationship between a student under 20 and a teacher in the same district is always forbidden by Oklahoma law, even if the child has reached the age of consent, which is 16 in Oklahoma. Because of the nature of the relationship--a student is considered to be under the authority of a teacher--a student is denied the legal capability to consent to sex with a district employee to prevent abuses of power by the authority figure.
In this case, however, the student involved in the allegations is only 14 years old, which would be an illegal relationship even if the suspect were not a teacher. Under Oklahoma law, sexual communication and contact with a minor under the age of 16 are prosecuted as lewd or indecent proposals or acts.
According to 21 O.S. § 1123, lewd acts is punishable by 3 to 20 years in prison if the child involved is aged 12 or older; if the child is under 12, the crime is punishable by 25 years to life. Anyone convicted of lewd or indecent proposals or acts with a child under 16 must register for life as an Oklahoma sex offender.
Image credit: Maurizio Pesce
