Teacher Charged For Having Sex With Young Boys

(Orange County, California) According to prosecutors, Santiago Charter Middle School English teacher, Sarah Bench-Salorio, 28, has been formally charged with 20 counts of lewd conduct with a child under 14.


Sarah Suzanne Bench-Salorio
(Photo - KABC)
Bench-Salorio is alleged to have seduced the boys, her students, over a period of months by offering dinners and luring them through phone calls and e-mails.

Authorities said Bench-Salorio met the first boy shortly after she began teaching at the school and began having sex with him in May 2003, a month after she got her teaching credential. They had a 16-month relationship that lasted until September before she began a four-month relationship with a second boy, prosecutors said.

Interestingly, she's sympathetic to the school and the boys, says her attorney, Allan Stokke, but there's no mention of how she's going to explain it to her husband and three foster children. On the other hand, she may not have to. Arrested Tuesday, she is being held on $1 million bail and faces a possible 46 years in prison.

Sadly, the roster of female teachers who sexually molest children continues to grow. Along with Pamela Smart, Debra Lafave, Mary Kay Letourneau, Lisa Suitter, and Amber Jennings, we must add Sarah Suzanne Bench-Salorio.

Isn't it about time for the judicial system to sentence female child molesters in a manner that's comparable to that which a man could expect? I imagine that if a man had committed the crimes that Bench-Salorio is accused of, he would never see light outside of prison.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.


[Update 01/07/06]

Bench-Salorio sentenced to 6 years.