Teacher defiled with offensive graffiti while passed out

This is a pretty horrific story. In 2007, a public school teacher, while at a party with other teachers from her school, had offensive graffiti drawn all over her body after she had passed out on the floor of the living room.

According to the police report, Etheridge, Town, Piechotte and Woodworth stopped at Town’s home on the way to McKinney’s house, which is a short distance from the school. There, according to the report, they decided to smoke marijuana and Town produced and provided the drug for the three women, who went to the garage to smoke it. The teachers then continued on to McKinney’s house.

Later that night, after more alcohol consumption by all involved, Piechotte crawled between a coffee table and a sofa in McKinney’s living room. There she passed out.

According to the report, Town and Beebe decided it would be “funny” to draw on Piechotte’s unconscious body. The two proceeded to draw penises on her legs, glasses on her face, write the word “balls” backwards on her forehead and write their names on her stomach. Much of the writing was sexual and crude. McKinney and his wife, as well as Etheridge and staff member Phil Rutkowski, watched the drawing. McKinney took pictures with his digital camera, and at least one person took pictures with a cell phone

You can see the pictures here (scroll to the bottom), but warning, they are graphic, possibly triggering and definitely NSFW.


Two additional things that are important to note: Piechotte is an out
lesbian and claims there was non-consensual sexual activity earlier in
the night.

The most upsetting part of this story is the lack of action taken
against the teachers involved by either the public school system or the
local authorities, despite the fact that Piechotte immediately went to
the police the next day.

The article touches on the “legal gray area” of what folks are
referring to as drunk shaming. It’s probably not an uncommon
occurrence, particularly in settings where binge drinking occurs. It’s
also not one our legal system (at least according to this account)
seems to know how to handle.

I’m not sure how physical evidence like these really horrific
photos, taken by the people involved, of blatantly sexual things being
written all over her body–including her exposed upper thigh–is
difficult to prosecute. At the very least I would expect action from
the school system which employs these folks. There is clearly a lack of
consent when someone is passed out.

I think Piechotte actually said it best herself:

“While I am dismayed that both my employer and Michigan’s
legal system have failed to recognize the brutality of this incident by
not taking any tangible action,” she said. “It underscores the need to
have meaningful dialogue about the underlying issues that enable a
culture of bias and violence to exist, so that others will not suffer
as I have.”

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