Teacher accused of giving student topless pictures of herself gets 5 years probation
School district photo
The Van Buren middle school teacher accused of giving a teenager a topless photo of herself was sentenced to five years of probation Tuesday, the Belleville View reports.
Thirty-seven-year-old Andrea Deanna Brennan, of Ypsilanti, was arrested July while drinking alcohol in a car with a 15-year-old student, the report said. Police found sexually explicit pictures on the teen's cell phone.
"As part of her plea deal, Brennan reportedly admitted to the judge that she created a picture of a significant portion of her breast and sent it to the teen," the media report said.
The View also reports Brennan, who was a teacher at North Middle School in the Van Buren Public School District, pleaded guilty to using a computer to commit a crime in exchange for the dismissal of one count of providing sexually explicit material and one count of furnishing a minor with alcohol.
Read the full story from the Belleville View here.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
martini man
Thu, Jan 10, 2013 : 11:13 p.m.
At first I was thinking .".Why weren't there teachers like her back when I was in school" ... ??? Then I got to thinking that there probably were teachers like her ..BUT they just weren't interested in ME !!! Oh well ...
John nose
Thu, Jan 10, 2013 : 9:15 p.m.
Everybody forgot about the lilttle boy?!! I pray for him cuz he will never be the same
BhavanaJagat
Thu, Jan 10, 2013 : 5:27 p.m.
The Source of Morals and Ethics : The issue is not about punishment and it is not about the varying standards of punishment based upon the gender identity. The primary concern is about the source of moral and ethical conduct. If I say that moral principles are entirely determined by the Divine Laws, it would mandate a belief in the existence of God. If the moral principles are determined by the Society and laws made by man, it would lead us to believe that all behavior is determined by external influences. If man has the structural and functional organization that contributes to the ability called discernment, the source of moral conduct lies within the person. If any behavior or conduct appears to be wrong or bad in principle, the reason could be man's estrangement or alienation from his/her own true, or real nature. Apart from punishment, we may have to impart education to remove ignorance about one's own nature.
snark12
Thu, Jan 10, 2013 : 4:50 a.m.
Yes, I think a man would have received a harsher sentence, and I think the double standard is natural. I say that because (as a man) I think many (most?) men, when they hear this story, think, "well, that wasn't too awful...I'm sure the kid probably liked it." If the genders were reversed, I doubt very much that many women hearing the story would think the same of a young girl in the same situation. A more evolved view would be that the woman took advantage of the young man and exposed him to the same level of mental anguish as his female compatriot would have experienced, and that a female and male teacher should have received similar sentences. But I personally have trouble getting the whole way there.
Giarc
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 9:04 p.m.
She needs to get to a meeting...
BhavanaJagat
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 6:10 p.m.
The Problem of Time and Place : All human relationships exist in the context of the given Time, and Place. A student and his teacher must not come together in a car during the middle of the night to share a drink. I would have appreciated if she had exposed her breast in her class room to teach her students some facts about human anatomy or gender identity.
Dave66
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 6:01 p.m.
"she created a picture of a significant portion of her breast" What's the insignificant part?
edjasbord
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 11:31 p.m.
Um, there is a difference between 'portion' and 'part.' Wow.
Basic Bob
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 5:29 p.m.
Honestly, I have more of a problem with her getting him drunk.
Doug
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 4:43 p.m.
If a guy had shown part of his anatomy he would be behind bars!
redwingshero
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 5:06 p.m.
With so much of culture hyper-sexualized, one would wonder if we can claim "modesty" when it seems hypocritical at minimum.
Paul
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 5:01 p.m.
Over in Europe its normal for the ladies to go topless on the beach. Over here its a major deal, we are so modest.
redwingshero
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 4:55 p.m.
The question is, are breasts considered genitals and is exposure charges, or something similar in nature need the premise of genitilia exposed. But I agree there is a double standard, at least in sentancing for a male teacher vs a female teacher.
redwingshero
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 4:27 p.m.
"...Brennan reportedly admitted to the judge that she created a picture of a significant portion of her breast and sent it to the teen," the media report said. So there are different "degrees" of breast exposure? Is their existence conditional? I will say, in my opinion, that if a male teacher would have sent a teenage girl a topless photo, I do think the punishment would have been more severe, but that's because I do believe there is a double standard. Could a male say he exposed 'x' percentage of his anatomy to a judge? Another part of me is surprised no one has come to the defense of the teacher claiming that breasts are not genitals and therefore shouldn't be punished at all. Although she clearly appears to have had an innapropriate relationship with a minor (referenced by consuming alcohol w/a teenager in her vehicle.
edjasbord
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 11:30 p.m.
A breast is a sexual part of the body in this context. Do you know whether the law specifically states 'genitals'? You might want to look that up before making a silly point.
Top Cat
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 3:11 p.m.
She'll have to move to California if she ever wants to be hired as a teacher again.
RxDx
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 12:30 p.m.
The state has the right (and probably the obligation) to take away her teaching certificate. They can do that for lesser offenses such as a DUI, but I don't think I've ever seen it happen. Not sure why the Michigan Dept. of Ed. isn't more active in that arena, since our state government has been really, really, really concerned about our moral behavior lately. But this is the type of offense where losing a license is entirely warranted.
Fresh Start
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 4:40 a.m.
If this crime was committed by a male teacher and a female student, the teacher would have received jail time.
justcurious
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 2:21 a.m.
I guess the court didn't take this case very seriously, did it? Hard to believe, or is it?
Paul
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 4:59 p.m.
I'm talking about the 5 years probation. Doesn't take much to mess up and have your probation revoke and off to jail you go.
justcurious
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 3:56 p.m.
Paul, it was not just one "mistake". She did not send the picture out of the blue to a fifteen year old kid, she did more than that. Adult have serious responsibilities when it comes to kids.
Paul
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 2:36 a.m.
Huh, she has a criminal record and 5 years probation--that is a long time. One mistake and she gets lock up.
JBK
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 1:51 a.m.
Gee! Teachers never did that to me when I was growing up! I went to a Catholic school and was taught by nuns. Come to think of it,...I am glad they kept their habits on!:) lol
Nicholas Urfe
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 9:42 p.m.
Jaime, what did the lay teachers do?
Jaime Magiera
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 3:58 a.m.
I went to Catholic school too, but we had lay teachers as well as nuns. As a young man, this was a good thing.
GeeWhiz
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 1:17 a.m.
37 year old woman married to a youth pastor hanging out with her 15-yr old daughter's boyfriend at 1am in a car, sending naked pictures of herself, drinking alcohol, etc. Definitely got a pat on the back!
5travellers
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 9:54 p.m.
I didn't see the information in this article about her being a youth pastor's wife and the teen being her daughter's boyfriend. Was there another article that gave that info?
GoNavy
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 1:08 a.m.
"MAN accused of giving bottomless photos of himself to minors, caught while drinking alcohol in a car with a minor, given 5 years probation." Yep, that headline is about as offensive as it gets. Right? Gotta love gender equality.
zigziggityzoo
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 3:46 p.m.
Oh Come on, Paul. If it were "Male teacher sends shirtless photos to 15 year old student, is caught drinking in car with her." Do you think the judgement would be the same for this case? Gender bias in sentencing is clear in these cases. http://campbelllawobserver.com/2012/10/hot-for-teacher-gender-bias-in-sentencing-of-teachers-that-have-sex-with-their-students/
Paul
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 2:33 a.m.
News flash, dissipate what we are brainwashed with, men and women ARE different. She wasn't bottomless. If anything its MORE unfair to the women, guys can be shirtless and its OK but a women, oh no, we can't allow that.
music to my ear
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 12:40 a.m.
and she probably knew that, man or women teachers need not cross the line.
JuliaS
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 12:21 a.m.
Pretty safe to say that if the teacher had been a man rather than a woman, the punishment would have been much more severe than probation. This is completely outrageous that she is getting off with a slap on the wrist.
ThinkingOne
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 2:57 p.m.
Probably correct, on the assumption that the man would have had nothing to barter down the count of furnishing a minor with alcohol. Getting that dropped was major in my opinion.
Now Found
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 11:08 a.m.
She will never work again in education and has ruined her own career. That is more than a slap on the wrist, so at least some justice has been served. Too bad it's self inflicted.
Paul
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 2:31 a.m.
Not equal, can not compare it. She was topless, not bottomless
dading dont delete me bro
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 2:04 a.m.
yeah, a topless guy is just aweful.
Roadman
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 12:16 a.m.
As part of her probation, she cannot have unsupervised contact with children other than her own so her career in teaching appears about over for at least that time frame. Her criminal conviction and pretrial publicity have likely damaged any employability in education. There also is the possibility of a civil action by the minor's parents for sexual harassment.
ahi
Wed, Jan 9, 2013 : 3:19 p.m.
Charter schools are always hiring.
Arboriginal
Tue, Jan 8, 2013 : 11:58 p.m.
What a great deal for her!