Child Advocate: Social Media Turns Spotlight On Teacher-Student Inappropriate Conduct
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Another day, another teacher-student sex scandal rocks an area school district.
Lianne Danko, 33, is facing charges of institutional sexual assault.
Danko, a former guidance counselor at Ringgold High School in Washington County, was arrested Thursday and accused of having sex with an 18-year-old male student.
RELATED LINKS:
- Plum High School
- Ringgold High School
- South Allegheny Middle School
- Norwin High School
- Sto-Rox School District
In the wake of a string of recent local teacher arrests and suspensions because of inappropriate contact with students, Dr. Mary Carrasco, the director of A Child's Place at the Pittsburgh Mercy Health System, told KDKA-TV's Ralph Iannotti, "The fact that we're uncovering more now may be hopeful, because the long-term consequences [of sexual abuse] are quite serious."
She said those consequences can last for years, and may not surface immediately.
Dr. Carrasco has spent decades studying child abuse.
She attributes more child abuse detection now to social media, among other things, adding, "I don't know if the problem is more prevalent."
Abuse is not usually just sexual, rather she explains "it's a position of power, authority; and when that happens, it's shameful."
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