Most states prosecute educators (teachers) for improper sexual contact with students under the state’s statutory rape laws—which are premised on the student being under the age of consent recognized by law, even if the student was a willing participant.

But some states have enacted specific statutes making it a crime—often a felony—for an educator to have sexual contact with a student—even if the student has reached the age of consent (17 years of age, for example).

Laws vary from state to state, and laws governing sexual contact between educators and students are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In South Carolina, it is illegal for educators to engage in sexual battery with a student. The law is codified under South Carolina Code of Laws Section 16-3-755, which makes it a felony for a person affiliated with a school in an official capacity to commit sexual battery with a student aged 16 or 17 years old, regardless of whether the student consents. Sexual battery is defined as sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person's body or of any object into the genital or anal openings of another person's body. The statute specifically addresses the abuse of power inherent in the relationship between educators and students, and it applies even if the student has reached the age of consent. Violation of this law can result in severe penalties, including imprisonment.