OLYMPIA...Senator Don Benton, R-Vancouver, on Monday will introduce legislation to ensure that teachers found viewing pornography at school will never teach again in Washington state. 

The legislation comes after Chad Maughan, a teacher at Bethel High School near Tacoma, was recently accused of sexual misconduct with one of his female students.  Maughan resigned his teaching position at Lacey’s North Thurston High School in 2003 after he was found viewing Internet pornography at school.  The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) suspended his teaching certificate for 60 days. 

            “When this teacher was caught viewing pornography at school, he should have never been allowed to continue to mold our young minds,” Benton said.  “Instead, he was given a light slap on the wrist and told to move on.   

            “My legislation would change that,” Benton added.  “If a teacher is found with porn at school, they won’t teach again in Washington, period.  We can’t continue to put our children at risk by keeping a few bad-apple teachers in the classroom.” 

            Benton’s latest bill to protect students at school has not yet been assigned a bill number, but will likely be referred to the Senate Early Learning, K-12 and Higher Education Committee. 

            Earlier this week, Benton proposed Senate Bill 6668, which requires the state to pay for background checks of certified public school employees when required by state law because of a lapsed teaching certificate or return to the teaching profession. The bill was referred to the Early Learning, K-12 and Higher Education Committee. 

Benton was successful during the 2004 legislative session with legislation that speeds up OSPI’s investigation of school employees and requires complete investigations regardless of if the school employee  resigns, lets his/her teaching license expire, or moves out of state. Substitute Senate Bill 6171 was signed into law.  Benton also sponsored a variety of bills to protect students from sexual predators at school. 

Pornography information:

§   The Link Between Pornography and Violent Sex Crimes by Robert Peters, president of Morality in Media http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/news/Porn-Crime-Link-RWP.cfm

§   Pornography's Link to Crime Tracked by Keith Peters, Family News in Focus, http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0034179.cfm

§   Cyber-sex reinforces and normalizes sexual disorders. (Dr. Robert Weiss, Sexual Recovery Institute, Washington Times 1/26/2000, http://www.protectkids.com/dangers/stats.htm)

§   20 percent of men admit to accessing pornography at work and 10 percent of adults admit they have an Internet sexual addiction (Internet Filter Review, www.internetfilterreview.com) 

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 For more information contact Tami Davis (360) 786-7519 or davis.tami@leg.wa.gov