Your donation will help us produce journalism like this. Please give today.

By Teresa Watanabe | Via The Los Angeles Times

L.A. Unified officials are coming under fire for allowing their attorneys to argue that a 14-year-old student was mature enough to consent to sex with her middle school math teacher.

The arguments were made in a civil case that was filed last year by the student, who was seeking financial compensation from the district. She said she suffered emotional trauma from a five-month sexual relationship nearly four years ago with her teacher at Edison Middle School in Los Angeles.

District officials, defending their legal strategy Thursday, said they needed to rebut the student’s claim with evidence that she was a willing participant who had a prior history of sexual activity.

Click here to read the full story here.