Iowa Supreme Court: 'Hugs can constitute sexual conduct' for teachers

The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the conviction of an eastern Iowa high school teacher who exchanged intimate Facebook messages and repeatedly hugged one of his underage students both at and away from school.

The court found that "hugs can constitute sexual conduct" when they occur within the context of a broader pattern of sexual exploitation by a school employee.

Bradley Wickes was a 36-year-old social studies teacher at Camanche High School in Camanche in 2015 when he began exchanging Facebook messages with a 17-year-old female student in one of his classes. The messages turned flirtatious and sexual and Wickes and the student would hug almost daily, including meeting up in a Walmart parking lot late at night for a hug.

He was sentenced to five years in prison for the crime of sexual exploitation by a school employee and required to register as a sex offender. The Iowa Supreme Court upheld that conviction, finding that "Wickes’ claim that he was sent to prison simply for hugging a student is a gross mischaracterization."

"It is important to note that nothing should prohibit teachers from hugging students for reassurance, comfort, or in congratulation without putting themselves at risk of being charged with the crime of sexual exploitation," Justice Bruce Zager wrote in the court's opinion.

But Wickes' behavior "went far beyond a teacher trying to comfort and reassure a struggling student," the court wrote

The justices agreed with prosecutors and the lower court that the more than 600 pages of Facebook messages between Wickes and the student became flirtatious and sexual in nature and showed that the hugs the two exchanged were for the purpose of Wickes' sexual gratification.

"Wickes’s prison sentence is not simply punishing him for giving hugs to a student. Instead, his punishment reflects the fact that Wickes abused his position of trust as a teacher to sexually exploit a student for his own gratification," Zager wrote.

Wickes argued that he didn't violate the law because his hugs with the student "were clearly intended and given for comfort and emotional support" and "were not sexual in nature."

He also said the evidence did not show a pattern of behavior intended to engage in sexual conduct, that the lower court should have sentenced him to probation and that his prison sentence was "grossly disproportionate to the offense" and constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

But the justices said Wickes' messages to the student showed he found her attractive, desired to be with her and "linked his sexual desire ... with the hugs they exchanged."

The Supreme Court agreed with the lower court that the Facebook messages were "grooming" the student for a more intimate relationship. On multiple occasions, Wickes asked the student if she would be in a relationship with him when she graduated.

After discussing his need for affection from his wife, Wickes wrote to the student "could you turn 30 tomorrow lol."

Wickes in several messages to the student referenced the possibility of criminal charges for his behavior.

"I'd sneak over a hug but think that's criminal charges," he wrote to her in one instance.

In another message, Wickes described himself as "a pervy old man" when complimenting the student's body. He ended the message with, "read this then delete and I'll go turn myself in."

The court's finding that "hugs can constitute sexual conduct" under the law fits with a broad definition of "sexual conduct" adopted by the court in a previous case, State v. Romer, where the court found physical contact is not necessary for a conviction of sexual exploitation by a school employee. In that case, a teacher had encouraged minors to engage in sexual behavior and photographed them doing so.

"The fact that Wickes’ crime involved hugs instead of an actual sex act does not take away from the emotional and psychological toll his actions had on the student he exploited," Zager wrote.