No mercy for humiliated teacher
Pamela Rogers, 29, was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday on charges that she had sent explicit photos to a young teen, formerly her student, while already on probation for having intercourse and oral sex with him. Rogers, who had been in jail since April, was led from the court sobbing and apologetic. Evidence was presented in the case by a clinical psychologist that said that the Rogers was a sex addict while Rogers’ mother asked the judge for leniency for her daughter based on the fact that her former husband was verbally, emotionally and mentally abusive to her, saying that “No one would have done that if they were of a normal mind,”. Based on her behavior, I’m not sure that I agree that Rogers doesn’t have a ‘normal mind’ but she does have a serious self-esteem problem which resulted in her acting in a sexually deviant way with an underage teen.
Sex addiction is often the result of low self-esteem. When we bury emotions that are troubling us, tolerate situations where we feel debased (such as an abusive relationship), or compromise our values for someone or something, we are lowering our self-esteem. With a lowered self-esteem, we often act in ways that are detrimental to ourselves and others such as abusing alcohol or drugs or engaging in unsafe and/or inappropriate sexual behavior. And low self-esteem can certainly be a by-product of an abusive relationship by a spouse.
I don’t know whether or not Rogers has a sex addiction. But I do believe that in a world where it is permissible for old men to take brides 40 years their junior, Rogers’ act hardly seems to merit a seven-year prison term. Her actions were certainly wrong. But what she needs is rehabilitation, which she is unlikely to get in prison, instead of the temporary Band-Aid of hard time.