Swim coach accused of having sex with student

[kepdawg]

Swim coach accused of having sex with student

Carroll ISD: 17-year-old girl reported relationship, police say

11:38 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 15, 2007

By HOLLY YAN / The Dallas Morning News
hyan@dallasnews.com

A 26-year-old swim coach for the Carroll Independent School District was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of having sexual relations with a student.

Byron Eugene Coyle was arrested near his home in Keller and faces a charge of improper relationship between educator and student, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Bail was set at $25,000.

Keller police learned Tuesday morning that a 17-year-old girl "reported she had a sexual relationship, which began in March of 2007 with her high school swim coach," Keller police Lt. Brenda Slovak said in a written statement.

Mr. Coyle, who could not be reached for comment, is accused of breaking a Texas law that criminalizes sexual relationships between teachers and students even if a student has reached the state's consensual age of 17 and agrees to the relationship.

Proponents of the law, which took effect in 2003, have said that even older teenage students shouldn't have sexual relations with teachers, especially because teachers have power over them. Opponents say the law should have different provisions for different age groups and factor in whether students consent to the relationships.

Several similar cases have received media attention in the past year. Ronny Lee Yates, a 35-year-old Cleburne High School assistant coach and teacher, was arrested in January on suspicion of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student.

Last May, 25-year-old Amy McElhenney was arrested on suspicion of having a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old student from Hebron High School in Carrollton. A Denton County grand jury declined to indict Ms. McElhenney, a former Miss Texas contestant whose case made national headlines.

[kaorder1999]

and whats worse....supposedly now the girl may be pregnant...uh oh!

[LH Panther Mom]

Originally posted by kaorder1999
and whats worse....supposedly now the girl may be pregnant...uh oh!
I wonder if that's why it was reported? :thinking:

[kepdawg]

Grand jury decided not to indict him.

[GetRDoneStangs]

Originally posted by kepdawg
Grand jury decided not to indict him.

For some reason that does not surprise me!!!

[charlesrixey]

Originally posted by GetRDoneStangs
For some reason that does not surprise me!!!

me neither

[Macarthur]

I don't know the details of this case, but I think too many are jumping to conclusions on these type of situations.

I do not think the teacher should automatically have the book thrown at them without some closer look at the circumstances. I think eveyone would agree with me that "kids" these days are much more agressive than they used to be. If you are a young coach, and a 17 or 18 year old girl comes onto you pretty aggressively, I think it's about 50/50 that the young man is going to thwart her advances. I'm not arguing that it's okay or acceptable, but we seem to want to hold the "older" individual responsible yet no consequences for the "younger" person.

Let's not forget that 100 years ago, it was not unusual at all for women to be married at 14, 15 or 16 and start having babies. And I think think teenagers are more mature now than they were at that time.

I guess the point I'm getting at is that I do think these grand jury's do need to have the ability to look at these cases individually and make decisions based on the merits of that case.

[Ranger Mom]

I went to school with a girl who started secretly dating one of the coaches at the end of her sophomore year..he was in his early 20's. They finally got caught her senior year....no charges were filed, but he was "let out" of his contract.

They got married as soon as we graduated........25 years, 4 kids and several grandkids later.....they are still going strong!!

He's coaching again and she teaches elementary school!

[Macarthur]

Originally posted by Ranger Mom
I went to school with a girl who started secretly dating one of the coaches at the end of her sophomore year..he was in his early 20's. They finally got caught her senior year....no charges were filed, but he was "let out" of his contract.

They got married as soon as we graduated........25 years, 4 kids and several grandkids later.....they are still going strong!!

He's coaching again and she teaches elementary school!

I think this is a perfect example of why you can't always make snap judgements on these things.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by Ranger Mom
I went to school with a girl who started secretly dating one of the coaches at the end of her sophomore year..he was in his early 20's. They finally got caught her senior year....no charges were filed, but he was "let out" of his contract.

They got married as soon as we graduated........25 years, 4 kids and several grandkids later.....they are still going strong!!

He's coaching again and she teaches elementary school!
My old roommate's parents were the same way. He was a coach, she was a cheerleader. They started dating the summer after her junior year in HS, got married after she graduated, still married 20-someodd years later.

[Phantom Stang]

The legal age of sexual consent in Texas is 17.
If the school district wants to have a "morals clause", that provides for a teacher being terminated for an improper relationship with a student, so be it. Having said that, there is no way this should even be a misdemeanor, much less a second degree felony.

[jason]

Originally posted by Phantom Stang
The legal age of sexual consent in Texas is 17.
If the school district wants to have a "morals clause", that provides for a teacher being terminated for an improper relationship with a student, so be it. Having said that, there is no way this should even be a misdemeanor, much less a second degree felony. i wanted to say something, but didn't know how to word it - you said it perfectly and i totally agree with you - well done

...but i like snyder more than sweetwater :D...

[charlesrixey]

honestly, i think this happens much more often than we find out--probably in the order of 90% that no one ever knows

every adolescent male had a teacher he was attracted too, so it's not terribly surprising that some act on it and find reciprocation. Since i almost was a teacher (before i joined the Marines i was about to start student teaching) i can definately say that for males, teachers and students, there is always going to be that temptation, and not surprisingly, with greater media coverage comes more incidents

i certainly don't condone such activities, but i suspect the problem is greater than we can see

[LH Panther Mom]

Originally posted by Phantom Stang
The legal age of sexual consent in Texas is 17.
If the school district wants to have a "morals clause", that provides for a teacher being terminated for an improper relationship with a student, so be it. Having said that, there is no way this should even be a misdemeanor, much less a second degree felony. I think it's actually State law.