Bynum is charged with being a school employee engaging in sexual acts with a student under the age of 19, which is a Class B felony.When interviewed by the investigators, both confessed that their relationship began in January when the student was 17-years-old, and it happened off of school grounds. The student graduated in May.
If convicted, Bynum could face 2 to 20 years in prison.
The law under which Bynum is charged was outlined in a bill sponsored in 2010 by Democratic Rep. Demetrius Newton, of Birmingham. Newton introduced the bill because of an incident where a teacher and a 16-year-old student were accused of having a sexual relationship but school officials could take no action against the teacher because the student was 16, which is the age of consent in Alabama. The law provides that consent is not a defense.
