When the story's this weird, the punchy lede just writes itself:
A teacher and a 14-year-old former female student whom she is accused of sexually assaulting participated in witchcraft together and even "wed" in a pagan ritual, police said. Elizabeth Miklosovic, 36, a teacher at South Haven's Baseline Middle School, was arraigned Thursday on a charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Van Buren County...
Also Thursday, the Kent County prosecutor's office issued arrest warrants for Miklosovic on charges of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct that accuse her of performing illegal sex acts with the student at the teacher's Grand Rapids home.
John Weiss, principal of the middle school where Ms. Miklosovic was teaching, wins the prize for understatement of the day:
"There have been a wide variety of reactions," he told The Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph. "There are 550 students and 550 reactions, it seems."
My guess is that most of them would fall in the "Eww," "Ick!," and "Say what?!" categories.
The girl's family said Miklosovic brainwashed the girl into thinking the two did nothing wrong. A relative told The Grand Rapids Press that the family initially believed Miklosovic's interest in the girl -- who was described as vulnerable and as having emotional problems -- was to help her.
Unfortunately, incidents like this make it that much harder for teachers who aren't sexual predators to reach out to students who need extra help.
Posted by kswygert at December 7, 2004 09:12 AM