Reader comments
Ex-Moab teacher takes plea deal in sex abuse of student

Anonymous | 11:59 a.m. Oct. 23, 2009

What a very sad story for everyone involved.

Sexist Justice? | 12:04 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

How is it justice that male teachers caught abusing students get long, even life sentences, while female teachers (and there have been many in recent years) get slap-on-the-wrist 3 years jail plus probation sentences. Is the crime less abhorrent when commited by a female? Is the devastation wrought in the lives of victims less severe? It's way past time for our justice system to start treating men and women equally when they commit these crimes.

Anonymous | 1:02 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Throw that guy in jail longer. Another prime example of a sicko committing a crime and then the victim getting blame and ridicule. Stop blaming victims and toss these pervs in jail for longer terms.

Comments continue below

Joshthebadbear | 1:11 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

If anyone has any question why it's inappropriate for an adult to have a sexual relationship with a child read her poem and look at the outcome.

What kind of message is sent by the judge and this moron prosecutor to agree to this kind of a plea bargin. They should be sharing a cell with him.

Idiots !

how about it Anonymouse ?

To: Sexist Justice? | 1:17 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Hear, hear!!! Same crime. Same devastation. Same punishment.

Equal crime | 1:23 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Equal time. We really need the women to have the same time as men when it comes to committing crimes. That's true inequality.

And this coming from a female.

Anonymous | 2:02 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

"Throw that guy in jail longer."
It was a woman who was convicted, not a man.

Get it straight | 2:30 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

To Anonymous...

>Throw that guy in jail longer. Another prime example of a sicko committing a crime and then the victim getting blame and ridicule. Stop blaming victims and toss these pervs in jail for longer terms.

Ahhh... but you misread the story. The "guy" you refer to isn't. He... err, uh... I mean... She is actually a "gal". And with that gender, a sentence of mere probation falls right in line with other female sex offenders. What Sexist Justice said is completely correct. It's lopsided justice.

I am constantly | 2:33 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

disappointed at the leniency afforded to child abusers in the State of Utah. Clearly the legislature and judges don't see this as much of a crime. I wonder why?

Disgusted | 3:02 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Depending on the degree of its severity, I feel that the maximum charge should be put to death. The livelihood of a child has died inside the moment he/she was violated by these heinous sexual actions. It's getting too much now. Do something about it! Scare them into knowing that we ARE doing something about it!

Because | 4:16 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

a teacher committed this heinous act on a young girl, and because of the resultant attention directed toward the young girl, she committed suicide. Her life was turned upside down for the several years she dealt with it. Her parents lives are forever changed, and they will have to always live with the physical loss of their child.

This teacher served 3 years in prison and now is credited with that time served, and now is 'on probation' - yes, she was fired from her job and will not be allowed to teach again, she will have to register as a sex offender, and take 'treatment'.

However, it seems like the punishment does not fit the crime, or equal the consequences her actions inflicted on the girl, her family, and the community.

Anonymous | 5:37 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Man it seems that almost every day there is another story about a different Utah teacher behaving inappropriately with a student. Why is it so prevalent there?

Bruce | 5:56 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

But for the actions of the trial court judge, she would still be in jail. Judge Anderson acted as a prosecutor by conducting cross examination on the suspect when he fealt the prosecutor wasn't doing her job. He is an incredibly political judge who often has a difficult time setting aside his personal inclinations in court.

Anonymous | 7:19 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

"Man it seems that almost every day there is another story about a different Utah teacher behaving inappropriately with a student. Why is it so prevalent there?"

News flasdh! It isn't only in Utah. I live 2000 miles from there. There are several teachers in my county who are currently being investigated for the same type of problem, both male and female. And there have been just as many for each of the last several years.

To make matters worse, I read of the same thing happening in other counties throughout the state. This is a growing problem nationwide.

To constantly | 10:31 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Uh... Utah is one of the toughest.... are you kidding!?

Time to outsource | 8:31 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

teaching to India.

We've spent billions hooking up our schools to the world wide web; it's time to reap the benefits. We'll shield our children from teacher-predators and save lots of money. An added bonus is that our children will benefit by receiving instruction from Indian-born teachers, who have a better command of the English language than the American-born teachers that graduate from teacher's colleges.

Teacher? | 9:46 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

According to KSL she was a volunteer serving as a coach. I'm not sure "teacher" is the correct word to describe this woman.

Outsource...??? | 10:11 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

I can't tell. Do you have a bias here? What are you going to do with the 4 million+ unemployed professionals who aren't perverts? Just curious.

Tragic | 10:32 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

The emotional devastation that this episode has had on the small Moab community and the individuals involved can never be repaired 100%. The choices and the actions of all involved have created a cloud that will linger for many years. It is easy to point the finger at this woman and blame her for everything. Indeed logic says you do the crime you do the time but there are others to blame here. Is the victim blameless? We will never know. Certainly she was old enough to have an idea what was happening. Did the parents react quickly enough? We do not know because the DesNews did not print the entire episode. Did the community have to split along the lines it did? The collateral damage would offer some insight. The resulting psychological damage is heart breaking. There is no psychologist in the country that could repair this teenager or her family alone. The poem lines in this article show deep injury but we should not jump to conclusion we have not read the entire thing. Now an entire town has blood on its hands, collectively. There were plenty of actions designed to punish and not to heal.

I don't.... | 4:01 p.m. Oct. 24, 2009

get it. These grown good looking adults in love with children? Why not find someone their own age and avoid the headache of getting in trouble with the law?

Murder | 4:56 p.m. Oct. 24, 2009

This is a crime of murder, and so very many in Moab are guilty. Arielle Beck's crime was selfish, deviant and well-calculated. The real story here is that the community wanted to believe that she was something that she was plainly not. Thank goodness that the Attorney General had the courage to take the case up again after our state supreme court, known for nothing if not ignoring crime victims and appeasing criminals. Why couldn't Happy Morgan muster the courage to renew the case after Justice Durham forgave and forgot Arielle's heinous crime?

How many teachers are not getting caught?

Nicodemus1 | 9:53 p.m. Oct. 24, 2009

Very interesting comments. I have noticed in the press, the many cases of illegal sexual relationships that adults have been having with minors/children here in Utah and around the country. Many have been between children and adults that are in a position of trust. And yes, it seems that male offenders do get the more serious punishments. Most female offenders get a lessor punishment as in this case. Why? The question is asked, "How many are not getting caught?". A more serious question one should ask is how many times law enforcement or the judicial system has turned a blind eye in these matters? In my case when I sought justice for a child of mine, I was told by a prominent attorney that justice is a myth and that it's all about money and politics. I can't convey to you how right he was. Talk to your children and keep them close, the world is uglier and more dangerous than you might think.

It is cases like this | 10:37 p.m. Oct. 24, 2009

that make us parents wonder just what are they doing to protect our kids. In the SLC tribune the mother says she would like to see the alford plea made into a new law that a person can not plea when it involves a child. I for one will go an picket the Legislators with her! Just tell me when and where!

Whats an Alford Deal | 11:51 a.m. Oct. 25, 2009

Guilty is guilty isn;t it? Just a simple play on words. Brought up by the legal system when they don't want to go forth with justice.

Parent Who Was There | 5:31 p.m. Oct. 27, 2009

Kelly we miss you. We do know you are at peace now. I'm sorry that so many people let you down. My daughter wanted so bad to look Arielle in the face this week Kelly. She wanted to give you a voice in that courtroom. She misses you Kelly, and it is very hard for her to see Arielle going on with her life. Arielle's plea deal does not justify
your death Kelly. We will both remember your smile and laugh. A part of me hopes that Arielle will someday own up to what she did to you. But right now I don't see that happening. My daughter will never forget her friend and she will always miss you!

Add your comment

Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.

Words Remaining

E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.