Saying there is no room for double standards, an Michigan judge sentenced a 30-year-old female teacher to spend the next six to 15 years in prison for having a sexual relationship with a student, reports the Detroit Free Press. Kathryn Ronk, who taught Spanish at a Catholic high school, could have been sentenced to as little as a year in jail, but Oakland County Judge Nanci Grant opted for prison time, noting the boy was 15 at the time.
Grant was dismayed by letters asking for leniency for Ronk that made no mention of concern for the boy. “You are dealing with children that are still developing emotionally,” Grant said yesterday. “To have this continuing double standard is unacceptable. The law does not recognize a double standard, the law is clearly on point in terms that these children are developing human beings. This was a person in position with power and influence over him.”