November 2, 2002 7:47 AM

Hot for teacher....

Woman charged in sexual assault: Teacher may be pregnant by boy, 13

Wow... deja vu all over again, eh??

Well, so she's not Mary Kay LeTourneau, but I think she got the wrong idea about helping turn boys into men:

Lisa Zuniga, 27, a supervisor at Victory Academy, was being held in lieu of a $30,000 bond. She appears to be pregnant but denies that she is, Pasadena police Sgt. Tim Moon said.

Investigators will have to get warrants to conduct tests to determine whether Zuniga is pregnant and, if she is, whether the boy is the father, Moon said.

But even if she is not pregnant, he said, the charge will remain because the boy has given a videotaped statement acknowledging a sexual relationship that lasted from April to October.

"You have enough evidence besides the pregnancy that this incident did occur," Moon said. "The 13-year-old is a child; he cannot give consent. He was seduced by this older woman. She took advantage of him."

The boy, now 14, has withdrawn from the Victory Academy church and school and now lives with relatives in Oklahoma, Moon said.

The teen told police that he and Zuniga had been meeting at her apartment after school. The small apartment at 712 Llano is on the property that includes the church and school, Moon said.

Zuniga's attorney, Arthur Porras, did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Moon said Zuniga, who has been a member of the church since age 8, had been employed at the school for two years and worked as a supervisor of children. He was not sure about her exact duties but said she served as "some type of instructor" and assisted in teaching.

Messages left at the Victory Academy office were not returned Friday.

The church pastor, who was not identified, had sought out the youth after hearing that Zuniga was pregnant because he felt that the boy had been spending a lot of time with her, Moon said.

"He confronted the little boy, and the boy confirmed that he had been having sexual intercourse with Ms. Zuniga and that he was the father," the sergeant said.

Zuniga was fired, Moon said, and the pastor contacted Houston police on Oct. 14 because the boy lived in Houston.

"The (boy's) parents were very shocked by this, as was the pastor," he said.

Houston police interviewed the boy, who had been a member of the church since birth, but turned the case over to Pasadena police on Oct. 15 after concluding that the offense took place in Pasadena.

The sad thing about this incident is that it helps to point out the double standards our society has regarding this type of situation. If the teacher had been male and the student female, there would be a crowd gathered outside the jail with a horse and a noose. While this incident is an egregious breach of trust on the part of Ms. Zuniga, where is the outcry? Let's face it; most of us who were teenage boys would have loved to have been doing a teacher when we were 13. It's a natural part of the process of getting in touch with one's emerging sexuality. Even so, I can't help but wonder what sort of long-term effect this will have on the boy. To be a father at 13, and under these circumstances...it's not going to be an easy road for the "little boy".

Perhaps the saddest and most inevitable outcome of this incident will be the lack of trust extended to the teachers who care for our children. The overwhelming majority of teachers are caring, committed, and painfully aware of what the borderlines are when it comes to appropriate vs. in inappropriate behavior. They shouldn't have to bear the suspicion that will be created for everyone by the actions of Ms. Zuniga.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on November 2, 2002 7:47 AM.

Grow up, Jesse- or go home was the previous entry in this blog.

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