Nebraska Runaway Teacher Due in Court Monday

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Oskar Garcia - Associated Press Writer
November 4, 2007 LINK


LEXINGTON, Neb. - The teacher accused of fleeing to Mexico with a 13-year-old boy after reports surfaced that they were having sex, was popular but strict with kids who got in trouble, middle school students said Sunday.

Kelsey Peterson, 25, and Fernando Rodriguez, the subjects of a week long search, were taken into custody without incident in Mexicali, Mexico, after the boy's relatives told police he had called home asking for money.

Peterson, a sixth-grade math teacher and basketball coach at Lexington Middle School, was turned over to FBI agents early Saturday. She was being held on federal charges at the Imperial County Jail in El Centro, Calif., and was expected to appear before a U.S. magistrate judge on Monday.
"The judge will advise Ms. Peterson of the charge (allegation) against her and her specific rights," FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth in San Diego said in a statement Sunday. He said he had no updates on the case and there was no immediate indication if she had a lawyer to comment for her.

Fernando was turned over to relatives in Mexico. He was an illegal immigrant while residing in the United States, and might not be able to return to the rural Nebraska town where he was an eighth-grader.


The boy's aunt, Laura Rodriguez, who has been speaking for the family, did not answer calls to her Lexington home and cell phone on Sunday. Nobody answered the door at her house, although three vehicles were parked in the driveway and a man could be seen through a window. Later, two women left the house and drove away.

A seventh-grader at Lexington Middle School, Gage Timson, said he knew Fernando through friends and hung out with him a couple of times.
He also described Peterson as "kinda cool sometimes" - although she could be strict when kids got in trouble.

"I thought that she kidnapped him, but there's rumors all over, and I don't know which ones are true," said Gage, 12, as he took a break from skateboarding in a park across the street from Lexington High School.
Dalton Wamsley, 14, started sixth grade the same year Peterson began teaching sixth-grade math at the school. "After school, kids hung out around her (classroom)," Dalton said. "She was like nice, friendly, easy to talk to." Fernando's family agreed with authorities to send him to the family's home town in Mexico's southern state of Guanajuato to be near his grandmother, uncles and father, said one uncle, Pedro Raya.

"They think that's the best thing they can do for Fernando," said Raya, 47, of Yuma, Ariz. "They're probably not going to be able to (visit) because of the status, because of the family's status." Alfredo Arenas, the Baja California state police official who detained Peterson, said the pair had a mutual agreement to flee after stories surfaced that they were having sex surfaced.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people who may be victims of sex crimes, but the boy's name had been widely publicized as police searched for him. Authorities in Mexico said Fernando told police of vague but romantic plans with Peterson _ to scrap normal teenage life for a life of hiding in southern or central Mexico. Peterson is charged in Nebraska with kidnapping, child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She also faces federal charges of transporting a minor across state lines or a foreign border for sexual activity, U.S. Attorney Joe Stecher said.

Peterson has an 8-year-old daughter, but the school district's superintendent has declined to give any details about her and it was not clear where the girl was staying.
Stecher said he would work with Dawson County Attorney Elizabeth Waterman to decide in which jurisdiction she would face charges. Waterman said she knew about Fernando's immigration status but did not know how it was going to affect her case against Peterson.
Court documents showed authorities had recovered several e-mails and letters in which Peterson and the boy professed their affection for one another. In letters, the boy called Peterson his "Baby Gurl" and said their relationship was "just not about the sex but that it was pretty good," according to the court documents.



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Ahh. These teachers are just running off left and right with these young students. It's disgusting. I find it alarming that Peterson has an 8 year-old daughter also. Lets hope she is in safe hands now.

P.S. I thought it was interesting that the kid is an illegal immigrant and we aren't letting him back in right now.

Finally, some border control! I wonder what "the status" is of his family....
 
Victim? He's no victim. You can only call him a victim if the teacher is ugly, otherwise I'd just call him lucky.

I wonder when Americans are going to realize puberty does NOT occur at age 18. I know if I was a 13 year old again and I had an opportunity like that I'd be absolutely furious at any cop who tried to stop me. Like, shooting spree furious.
 
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No, it doesn't start at age 18, but what if this was reversed? A 13 year old girl running off with a 25 year old male?

Or 12?

Or 11?

Or...when is the line drawn?

13 is certainly too young to be sexually active, male or female.
 
It's a really touchy subject and I simply don't have the answers. Really I think the legal age should be 15. But as long as the love is genuine, I can't fault either of them.
 
It's a really touchy subject and I simply don't have the answers. Really I think the legal age should be 15. But as long as the love is genuine, I can't fault either of them.
I doubt there is any "love" involved. I think she is taking avantage of his age, and he is to young to realize it.

Though, I do agree, it is a very touchy subject. In many states 16 is the legal age for consensual sex, and if a 16 and a 15 year old make it, the 16 year old can have child molestation charges brought against them. (Sex offender). I don't think that is right.
 
^^^Good point. First and foremost, I don't think there should be any real relationships between student and pupil, no matter what the age. That relationship should be strictly professional. ALWAYS
 
^^^Good point. First and foremost, I don't think there should be any real relationships between student and pupil, no matter what the age. That relationship should be strictly professional. ALWAYS

I agree.

Unless it's role play. *Haha, sorry for my humor.*
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I fail to see how giving him what he most definitely wants is taking advantage of him.

HE IS 13 YEARS OLD.
 
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I doubt there is any "love" involved. I think she is taking avantage of his age, and he is to young to realize it.

Though, I do agree, it is a very touchy subject. In many states 16 is the legal age for consensual sex, and if a 16 and a 15 year old make it, the 16 year old can have child molestation charges brought against them. (Sex offender). I don't think that is right.


I'd advise you to check your states statutes in this regard. Because that statement is not generally true if niether party is at the time of sexual realtions a "legal" adult. And if the 16 year old is not certified by the courts as an adult despite his age the Juvenile courts in most jurisdictions cannot order registration for sex offenses.
 
The boy is still a juvenile and the teacher is a pervert. Regardless of most of your dreams of a beautiful 20 year old teacher seducing you, this could ruin a young kid's life. He will need to be a "kid" through High School and make his decisions when he is a more mature, and smarter, college student. He still needs his family support at the present and will be more apt to finish maturing and learning whether momentary sex overdrive is more important than a college education to prepare him for success in life. He's just too young to make those decisions for himself.
 
I think it all revolves around the lack of background checks. Seems to me that schools will hire any schmuck with a college degree and a teaching certificate just to fill a chair.
 
Educational systems mostly prefer shmucks from the 60's to be in higher positions in academia. Then, they hire all the perverts and draft dodgers they want.
 
I don't think any of you guys should have a say in this kid's sex life! I know some kids who were doing each other at 13, this one is just particularly lucky.

It's different for girls, and I don't have any insight into it, but this kid was obviously past puberty and he knows what he wants for himself!
 
I don't think any of you guys should have a say in this kid's sex life! I know some kids who were doing each other at 13, this one is just particularly lucky.

It's different for girls, and I don't have any insight into it, but this kid was obviously past puberty and he knows what he wants for himself!


Regardless. It still violates the law and the "teacher" will and needs to be prosecuted. She needs to have her teaching license yanked, she needs to be made to register as a sex offender with all that entails.
 
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