A Baldwin County High School teacher was arrested in March 2008 for allegedly having sex with two students. The Baldwin County District Attorney’s Office has dismissed those charges in light of a recent Georgia Supreme Court case.
The Macon Telegraph has the story.
Alison Ivey was indicted on five counts of sexual assault in October of last year and was scheduled for trial in August. Prosecutors alleged that Ivey performed oral sex on a 17-year-old student off school property in late 2007. Authorities also believe that Ivey had intercourse with the student on two different occasions in her home in the spring of 2008. She was also accused of having intercourse with an 18-year-old student in her classroom and in her car off school property in late 2007. In addition to the charges, Ivey was placed on administrative leave after her arrest and later resigned as a teacher.
In the past, Ivey’s alleged actions were criminal under the law. In fact, it was generally criminal for a teacher to have relations with any student regardless of age. However, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in June that consensual intercourse between a 16-year-old student and a teacher is not a crime. This is because the legal age of consent in Georgia is 16. Charges against Ivey were dropped when the Georgia Supreme Court refused to reconsider its June decision.
Ivey has always denied having sex with the students and is happy with the District Attorney’s decision according to her defense attorney, Macon criminal lawyer Frank Hogue.
Pate & Brody is an accomplished Georgia law firm with offices in Atlanta, Macon and Madison. Our lawyers are dedicated to pursuing justice for people charged with serious crimes. We have successfully represented clients facing serious federal criminal charges and state criminal charges in courts across Georgia. Our lawyers have been recognized on the list of Georgia’s “Super Lawyers”, and included among Georgia’s “Legal Elite” by Georgia Trend Magazine. Page Pate was recently the Chairman of the Criminal Law Section of the Atlanta Bar Association.
