"supervisory authority" over J.A.P. at the time the sexual conduct occurred, because the sexual encounters did not occur on school grounds or while either party was attending a school function; that J.A.P. was not a student in a class taught by Whitehead; that during the time that this sexual contact occurred, J.A.P. was an intelligent high school junior with a good academic record, who was free to come and go as she pleased; and that the relationship was consensual and no force was used. Whitehead also notes that he received no extra compensation from the school for serving as teacher advisor to the Quiz Bowl team; and that the students did not receive a grade, credit, or extra credit for their participation on the team.
The trial court, however,crime that it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.[27]
In the case at bar, Whitehead, a 34-year-old man, was a teacher admired by his 17-year-old victim; he was a role model for this student, whose father had been killed in an accident a year earlier; he was a married man with three children, the oldest being a 15-year-old daughter; yet he told his victim that he loved her and that he wanted to marry her, all the while engaging her in a relationship that he knew to be criminal (as to himself) and destructive (as to his victim). Because high school students are vulnerable to sexual assault by teachers they trust, we conclude that the sentence range provided by the legislature, and the sentence imposed by the trial court in