The Cupertino Courier Lamson's case shows 'abuse of power' can live close to home By Lee Kucera Our community was jolted more than a year ago by one of those painful newspaper stories that most of us would prefer never to read, when 32-year-old Homestead High School coach Jeff Lamson was arrested on multiple counts of felony sex offenses with female students and one count of a misdemeanor child molestation offense with a 14-year-old. Lamson pleaded no contest, usually interpreted as an admission that the defendant has no case. A groundswell of community support for Lamson arose in letters to the judge from friends and colleagues who testified to his character, and his sentencing was postponed. (What? Except for that one little thing, he's a perfectly nice man?) I know nothing about Lamson, or what the newspaper article called his prominent family. He may be a good neighbor, a good brother, a good tennis partner. But that has nothing to do with the serious and lasting damage done by a teacher who becomes sexually involved with a student. Psychotherapist Peter Rutter, M.D. (author of Sex in the Forbidden Zone: When Men in Power--Therapists, Doctors, Clergy, Teachers, and Others--Betray Women) pulls no punches about the consequences of such contact. "A woman's sense of place in the masculine world," Rutter claims, "is strongly influenced by the degree to which her talent and potential have been recognized by male teachers . . . There can be terrible, life-shattering consequences to a girl or woman when this trust is turned into a sexual opportunity by the man in authority. She is likely to adapt to the victim role, repeating it in other relationships, each time losing more of her self-respect. . . ." Years ago, when I was teaching high school, sexual contact between teachers and students was all too common. By "common" I mean that I recall a handful--perhaps fewer than half a dozen--of such instances in 10 years. A friend who still works in my former district recently told me of a coach who had sex last year with a student in the P.E. locker room. He was prosecuted, got off on a technicality, and still works with teenagers. Another, a well-regarded biology teacher, is now in prison for repeated sexual encounters with a succession of his female students. The teachers with whom I have remained friends are among the most ethical people I know. They would no more initiate sexual contact with a student than they would sprout wings and fly. But Rutter's research led him to the conviction that "sexual exploitation of professional relationships is epidemic in our society." Lamson's case demonstrates that such incidents can happen close to home, even in "good schools" and "good communities." The situation admittedly becomes more complex when the student initiates the activity, or is 18 years old. Rutter maintains, however, that in these circumstances ". . . the factors of power, trust, and dependency remove the possibility of a woman freely giving consent to sexual contact." In any case, it is not the responsibility of an adolescent girl to maintain the professional boundaries in a student-teacher relationship. That is the crystal-clear duty of any adult who has been entrusted with jurisdiction over teenagers. However repellent Lamson's alleged actions are, most of us must feel for his wife and child, and empathize with the fact that the most private and personal facts of his life were opened to public scrutiny. When all is said and done about the Clinton-Lewinsky mess, one of the main impressions I am left with is an uneasy realization that the combination of limitless state-of-the-art technology and a no-holds-barred mass media has created a runaway investigative train with the potential to destroy just about anybody. But individual circumstances cannot mitigate the fact that the person who has the greater power has the greater responsibility. When anybody in a position of authority--clergy, military officer, physician, lawyer, therapist, teacher, coach, employer--initiates or accepts sexual activity with someone who is subject to that authority--parishioner, enlisted person, patient, client, student, employee--it's an unconscionable abuse of power. When the victim of that abuse is 14 years old, it is an even more egregious offense. And it shouldn't be minimized or swept under the rug because the perpetrator is a nice guy. [ Back to Contents Page | Cupertino Courier Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Cupertino Courier, January 27, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.