Fiona Viotti, a 30-year-old married teacher, has found herself surrounded in controversy after her extracurricular activities with a handful of students has come to light. According to the Daily Mail, Viotti had sexual relationships with at least five students at Bishops Diocesan College in Cape Town between 2013 and 2019.
Viotti resigned from her job in October prior to the allegations becoming public, so she will not face punishment from the school.
She is believed to have targeted boys who were over the age of consent.
From the report:
Ms Viotti is also known to have filmed explicit videos of herself which were circulated within the school and online, but investigators failed to determine who she initially sent the footage to. The probe found that she breached school codes and the code of ethics laid down by the SA Council of Educators, likely meaning she will never teach again.
“The school will consider all the findings and recommendations made by the investigators to ensure we continue to make Bishops a safe environment for all our pupils and teachers,” school headmaster Guy Pearson said.
“As a school we are deeply saddened by these events and remain committed to ensuring the mental health and well being of those affected and no further details of the findings will be made available.”
Since the beginning of 2019 alone, a handful of teachers have been arrested on similar charges, including 25-year-old substitute teacher Alexis Mercedes Boberg in Baltimore, Beulah High School teacher Kelsie Schmidt in North Dakota, Rancocas Valley Regional High School teacher Alexandra Reiner in New Jersey, and 50-year-old Florida substitute teacher Angela Jean Stanton in Florida. Additionally, Texas teachers Meredith Null and Edna Longoria were arrested on similar charges.
As for why the number of these incidents has seemingly increased, studies suggest that smartphones are the primary reason for the spike in illicit relationships, as it allows teachers to communicate with the minors without supervision.
According to a report from the Texas Education Association, smartphones make easy for teachers to privately text and talk with students and also make it possible for teachers and students to share explicit images.
