Record number of Ore. teachers lose licenses for sexual conduct

PORTLAND, Ore. — A record number of Oregon teachers lost their licenses last year for sexual conduct with students.

Fifteen teachers had their licenses revoked in 2014 for sexual conduct with a student, compared to nine in 2013, ten in 2012 and five in 2011.

"I was surprised when you gave me that number," said Victoria Chamberlain, Executive Director of the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission.

KGW analyzed the cases reviewed by the state commission over the past 15 years.

The analysis looked at a variety of factors including the teacher's gender, background and use of social media.

Many of the cases involved popular social/electronic media including Facebook, Snapchat and text messaging.

"I do think there's been an explosion in social media access," said Chamberlain.

One teacher who lost her license last year was Naomi Leavitt. The former Cleveland High School teacher was accused of having sex with an 18-year old student.

"I am a victim of gross slander," wrote Leavitt in an email to KGW. "I have consistently maintained my complete innocence in this matter, and continue to state that the allegations are untrue."

Although the student's name was redacted from public documents, KGW was able to reach him. He agreed to speak with KGW if we hid his face and didn't name him.

"A lot of people got along with her well," said the unnamed student. "She was considered the cool teacher, allowed us to play video games in her room during lunch or other types of stuff."

The alleged victim said the female teacher sent him private text messages, often sexual in nature.

"It did actually get to the point where I didn't like how much she was texting me," said the student.

Public records show school administrators previously warned Leavitt about the use of her personal Facebook page after finding "an unusually high number of communications" between the teacher and male students.

"My intent was to allow students to communicate with me and therefore feel more motivated in their academics," wrote Leavitt. "However, after discussions with the administration, I made the decision to shut down my Facebook account completely."

Leavitt was not charged with a crime. But, after reviewing the case last year, the state commission determined that more likely than not, Leavitt had sex with the student. She'd no longer be allowed to teach in public schools in Oregon.

Experts believe teacher-student sexual misconduct cases have been widely underreported. Social media has helped bring this problem out of the shadows by creating an electronic trail of evidence.

"I don't think there are more instances of misconduct, I think there's better ability to prove misconduct," said Chamberlain.

She suggests teachers avoid direct contact with students on social media, unless it is in a public forum that others can see.

"Facebook is about friends, you know you 'friend' somebody. We encourage people not to do that with students," she said.