by Casey Bennett

The typical image conjured in the minds of most ordinary people when confronted with the word “pedophile” is that of, above all else, a man. His individual characteristics are irrelevant for they share one major commonality: their gender.

As a result, men accused of pedophilia tend to receive harsher sentences than their female counterparts for the same crime. This is unfortunately true not just of pedophilia, but across the criminal justice system.

However, one Oakland County judge in Detroit isn’t falling for it.

Judge Nanci Grant recently sentenced 30-year-old former high school teacher Kathryn Ronk up to 15 years in prison for engaging in sexual misconduct with an underage student.

Originally facing as little as one year behind bars after pleading guilty to two counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct, Grant chose to bring down the full weight of the law by refusing to afford leniency on the basis of Ronk’s gender:

“If this was a male teacher who had been involved with a 15-year-old female there would be people here hanging from the ceiling trying to get every drop of blood … But because it is a woman, there seems to be a winking about what happened.“

As a woman, I personally applaud Judge Grant’s decision in this case. Continued bending of the law to accommodate women solely for being women is as insulting as it is unjust. It screams of the soft bigotry of lower expectations, viewing women as delicate and in need of protection regardless of how heinous they may be. Feminists frequently claim this double standard is part of feminism, but platitudes are not the same as concrete action.

Before her sentence was handed down, Ronk offered an apology, saying,

“I’m so sorry for the victim and his family, for the school and the community, my family… and I’m so sorry for my husband.“

I wonder if Ronk was sorry when she plied a minor with alcohol, slept with him on several different occasions, and then went home to kiss her husband with the knowledge of what she had done perhaps only hours beforehand.

Or maybe she’s just sorry she didn’t receive a free pass for owning a uterus like these women did.