From The Leave Those Kids Alone Department: Accused Teacher Susan Sharp UPDATE

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch comes additional details of accused child molester Rebecca Susan Sharp, age 47, of New Madrid, Missouri. Sharp was a teacher at the New Madrid Central Middle School. She resigned her teaching position after her arrest.

As profiled on the 'Wonks October 29th Sharp was arrested for allegedly plying four boys with illegal drugs and having sexual relations with them. Three of the boys are aged 14, one is 15.

After the encounter, one of the victims attempted suicide with drugs allegedly given him by Sharp. After his stomach was pumped, police questioned the boy, who began to tell the story.

Ms. Sharp is from one of New Madrid's most "prominent" families. (Read that as rich and privileged.) So therefore photographs of this disgusting little creature are somewhat scarce. According to the Post-Dispatch, Sharp is a, "Tall woman with blue eyes. She was once overweight, but slimmed down to single digit dress size due to gastric bypass surgery a couple of years ago."

The usually sleepy town of New Madrid is in an uproar. One reason for the public outcry is the alleged molestation, but the greater source of friction is the perception of favoritism that is being shown to Sharp.

• An incident similar to this was "hushed-up" last May. A 16 year-old boy alleged that he had to "fight-off" an attempted seduction by Sharp. Under intense questioning by local Sheriff's deputies, the boy recanted. The school system disregarded the allegation.
• A teacher had been fired by this same district because of the showing of an "R" rated movie in class.
• When Sharp was arrested, she was charged with 1 count of second-degree statutory rape, 2 counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, and 1 count of distribution of controlled substances to minors. Sharp was not charged with the more serious allegations of child molestation or child rape.
• Her bail was set at an unusually low $25,000. One resident declared, "If she didn't have that last name, her bail would be half-a-million dollars.

We here at the Education Wonks will continue to monitor this particular situation, and will publish updates as changing circumstances warrant. Again, we here at the 'Wonks have to ask this question: What if Sharp had been a man?