Teacher Cleared of Failing to Report Sex Assault - Update

Kristin May has been exonerated.

The Supreme Court of Georgia has ruled in favor of a former River Ridge High School language arts teacher and has reversed the lower court’s refusal to drop criminal charges against the teacher.

Kristin May was arrested in 2011 for failing to report an alleged inappropriate relationship between paraprofessional Robert Morrow and a minor student.[…]

The inappropriate student-teacher relationship reportedly began in December 2010, and May was accused of knowing about the misconduct since January 2011.

The state argued that May violated the law because she was mandated to report any inappropriate incidents involving teachers and students to the proper authorities, but she neglected to do so.

In February, May appealed to the state’s highest court after a trial court judge refused to drop criminal charges.

In an opinion released June 30, written by Justice Keith Blackwell, the high court reversed the lower court’s refusal to drop criminal charges against the teacher and ruled that under Georgia statutory law, a teacher’s obligation to report child abuse is limited to children to whom they “attend.”

So, case closed.

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Teacher Accused of Failing to Report Sex Assault
[Previous 8/12/11 post]
(Woodstock, Georgia) A 32-year-old teacher at River Ridge High School, Kristin May, was arrested yesterday for failing to report a educator-student sex episode when informed by the victim, a 16-year-old.

The educator-student sex episode reportedly occurred in December 2010 and involved sex between the school wrestling coach, Robert Morrow, 28, and a student.

The Cherokee Sheriff's Office charged Kristin May, 32, of Canton with failure to report after police said she knew about the incident, but failed to report it.

The victim reportedly told May about the incident in January of 2011. May, who is a mandated reporter, did not report the incident to authorities.

The investigation began in late July when the victim reported the incident to the Woodstock Police.

May was booked into custody at the Cherokee Adult Detention Center with bond set at $680.