COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio House has moved to close a loophole that allowed some school and university employees to have sex with high school students without being charged with a crime.
It is already against the law for teachers and administrators to engage in sexual activity with minor students, but the ban did not extend to other employees.
The House approved unanimously a bill, sponsored by Rep. Christina Hagan (R-Alliance) which would “prohibit any public or nonpublic school employee, along with employees of colleges and universities, from engaging in sexual conduct with students enrolled in an Ohio high school.”
Hagan says the inspiration for the bill was a case from her home county in which a cafeteria worker at a Stark County high school could not be prosecuted for engaging in sexual conduct with six male students. Under Hagan’s bill, school employees, including janitors and cafeteria workers, can be criminally charged for engaging in sexual activity with a minor, she said.
The measure now moves to the Senate.