On March 26, 2008, 31-year-old Katherine J. Harder, a Kansas high school teacher, was arrested for an unlawful sexual relationship with her 17-year-old student. Harder taught 10th, 11th, and 12th grade Language Arts at Manhattan High School in Manhattan, Kansas. The Incident: A police officer allegedly discovered her having sex with the student, in a car parked at Spillway State Park, at around 10 PM. Harder resigned the following morning, only to rescind her resignation later. Repercussions: The Manhattan-Ogden board of education, after discussing her position in a April 2 closed-door hearing, voted unanimously to terminate her employment with the school district. Police said they believed the sexual relationship was not limited to the one incident, but was ongoing. Backstory: Although the age of consent in Kansas is 16, state law forbids sex between a student and a teacher, with 'teacher' defined in broad terms to include other adults in a position of authority. Related Incidents: In early 2006, Garden City, Kansas high school teacher Nadine Nunnelee, 40, was arrested and charged under the same law, for five alleged incidents of sex with a 16-year-old student.
On March 17, a male substitute teacher in Leavenworth, Mohamed Dirshe, 26, was arrested and charged with three counts of unlawful sex with (male) students, and accompanying charges of supplying alcohol to minors.
Fast Facts:
- Harder had taught at the school for three years
- Released from Pottawatomie County Jail on $3,000 bond
- Also taught at Kansas State University
- Faces five to 13 months in jail
