"It might be something less if someone's sending inappropriate e-mails or sexual flirtations. There's the guy who had girls jump up and down before he would give them their homework back," said board attorney and chief investigator Jean Hill. "It's that kind of stupid action. Maybe someone leaves notes on a student's car or is violent with a student."

The AP review shows Utah ranks 16th in the number of license suspensions or revocations for sexual misconduct.

Nationwide, 26 percent of actions taken on teaching licenses were related to sexual misconduct. In Utah it was 52.7 percent. In a state where about one out of every five residents is enrolled in a public school, many find the statistics jarring.

"It shocks me," said Rep. Carl Wimmer, a police officer and Republican lawmaker from Herriman who has sponsored legislation to impose the death penalty for some twice-convicted sex offenders.

"It's sad that we're that high up, that Utah, a state where family values mean something, a state where we're conservative and morality is important," Wimmer said.

"How many times do you see the news where someone says, 'This just doesn't happen in our neighborhood?' Sometimes I don't think people realize the extent of the sexual perversion that is in the underbelly of this state," he said.

Utah penalties

Often, those who have their licenses suspended or revoked have already pleaded guilty to a crime. Utah law also allows for aggravated sexual abuse charges if the person committing the crime is in a position of trust, such as a teacher, counselor or coach.

Wimmer would like to see a special category for teachers.

"Teachers who sexually assault or who have inappropriate sexual relations with students should be punished more severely," he said. "The bottom line, the reason why, is they are given such a position of trust. When parents drop their kids off at school, they have a right to believe their kids are safe."

Overwhelmingly, the more than 24,000 licensed teachers in Utah's school districts behave themselves around more than 500,000 students each year.

Each teacher undergoes a criminal background check before being hired, and the state checks a national database to ensure teachers hired from other states haven't had their licenses suspended.

When state lawmakers passed a law this year making it a misdemeanor to view pornography at school, the law was intended to give school-resource officers a way to prosecute students, not teachers.

But viewing pornography is one of the most common reasons teachers are suspended in Utah. Some teachers are caught looking at pornography by students during the school day. One teacher was suspended after pornography was found on a school-issued iPod.