A Choctaw High School teacher accused last year of having a sexual relationship with a student has pleaded guilty.
Austin Quinton, 25, of Oklahoma City, was a teacher and assistant wrestling coach at Choctaw High School during the 2015-2016 school year. Prosecutors say that shortly after Quinton began working for the school district in August 2015, he began a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl in his class. They say the relationship continued until December 2015, and by the end of January 2016, Quinton had been arrested for sex crimes and he resigned from his teaching position.
Police say the teacher and the student had sex on at least four occasions, including twice in his truck at a church parking lot, once at his home, and once at the girl's home. He was also accused of soliciting nude photos of the girl, and at least one photo was reportedly discovered on his phone after his arrest.
Quinton was charged with four counts of second degree rape and one count of procuring the participation of a minor under the age of 18 in photographs depicting sexual activity. On Friday, as part of a negotiated plea, the former teacher pleaded guilty to all five counts.
As part of his plea agreement, Quinton was sentenced to one year in jail. Upon release, he will be ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
In Oklahoma, the age of consent to sexual intercourse under ordinary circumstances is 16 years. However, state law prohibits sexual contact between a teacher or school employee and anyone under the age of 20 who is a student in the same district or school system. In other words, had Quinton not been a teacher--or even if he had been a teacher in a district other than Choctaw-Nicoma Park Schools--there would likely have been nothing illegal about a sexual relationship between the 24-year-old and the 17-year-old.* However, because the law forbids sexual relationships between students and teachers or other individuals in a supervisory/custodial relationship, seemingly consensual sex becomes second degree rape--a felony sex crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison. As a Level 3 sex offense, a second degree rape conviction mandates lifetime sex offender registration.
*Note: while a sexual relationship is not legally forbidden between a person aged 16 or older and an adult over the age of 18, one must remember that sexually explicit images of a minor under 18 are forbidden as child pornography under both state and federal law. While the sex act may be legal, the visual documentation of nudity or sexual activity involving a minor under 18 is against the law.
Quinton is the second Choctaw High School teacher to be accused of sex with a student in 2015. In April 2015, Kristen Betz, then 43, was accused of having sex with a 17-year-old student. By December 2015, prosecutors dropped the case when the student, who had since turned 18, denied that the relationship took place, even though he initially told police that he had a sexual relationship with the teacher. Oklahoma County First Assistant District Attorney Scott Rowland said of the case that it appears the relationship between Betz and the student continued after charges were filed, and he believes that is why the teen's story changed.
Image credit: Choctaw-Nicoma Park Schools
