Danielle Walls is a 27 year old history teacher at Clairemont High School, in California. She’s accused of sexually assaulting a 16 year old student at Clairemont:
According to police, Danielle Walls, 27, was a history teacher at Clairemont High School at the time of the alleged sexual assaults, which authorities said involved a 16-year-old boy who attended the school. Officials said the sexual assaults took place between April and December 2004.
San Diego media has done something that I find quite hilarious with this case. They’ve been extensively gathering student reaction:
“She was more like a sister to a lot of the girls,” one female student told NBC 7/39.
Student Alexandra Apaldetti said the allegations disgusted her.
“That’s just gross and, wow, that’s out there,” said Apaldetti. “That’s a shocker.”
That’s from NBCSanDiego. This is from 10news.com:
One student said, “If somebody had a party, she (Walls) would be there.�?
Some of Walls’ former students said she didn’t always act like a teacher.
“She was all over the guys. She didn’t talk to the girls, just the guys,�? said senior Mayra Valero.
[...]
“Everybody says ‘Miss Walls is fine’�? said one male student.
Another student said, “Yeah, he’s underage but he’s old enough to know wrong and right.�?
“They know what they wanted to do and they did it,�? said another student.
One male student said he believes the victim was lucky.
Other students said whether the teacher is male or female, it is wrong.
“They’re teacher and student. The teacher has power either way,�? said student Luigi Assenti.
If you ever needed further evidence of how sensationalistic media coverage of these things has become then those above quotes ought to prove it to you.
Meanwhile, Walls’ legal team is claiming that the 16 year old tried to blackmail her:
An attorney representing a former Clairemont High School teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student said Friday the boy tried to blackmail her for $10,000.
Attorney Gretchen von Helms was hired by 27-year-old Danielle Walls.
[...]
Von Helms says the accuser’s MySpace.com profile reveals a lot about his character. One picture posted on the site shows the young man and his friends with beer bottles. Another picture shows the alleged victim with a glass in his hand, and the caption reads ‘rum and coke.’
Several pictures show the young man flipping off the camera, and one shows him wearing a t-shirt that reads ‘Life of Crime – West Side.’
“You have to look really hard at this case — these allegations are two years old, they are now being made by an adult male,” von Helms said.
“The pictures of him on that MySpace page are not very flattering, and so you have to kind of question what type of person this is making these allegations, and therefore how strong these allegations are,” she added.
[...]
“There have been allegations that he and or his sister have been trying to extort my client and her family members and try to get money out of them and when that didn’t fly they went to the authorities,” she said.
The attorney says she has information that Walls and her sister were asked to pay somewhere in the realm of $10,000, or the accuser was going to the police.
And this is hilarious:
News 8 received a picture in an e-mail that claims to show Walls with a former student at a party. Walls appears to be holding an unusual sort of pipe.
I’ll tell you this right now: America might better know the names of Debra Lafave, Mary Kay Letourneau, and Pamela Rogers, but this case kicks all their asses. Danielle Walls for the win ladies and gentlemen.
The prosecutor in the case has an interesting opinion of Ms. Walls:
First sex, now drugs — new charges are filed against a teacher accused of having sex with a student.
[...]
Walls not only had sex with the boy 10 to 25 times at four or five hotels around the county, Deputy District Attorney Dwayne Moring alleged, she also gave him drugs and alcohol. The student was 16 years old in 2004 when the the incidents allegedly took place.
“During that time, the defendant was an out-of-control coke fiend,” Moring said. “She furnished the victim with cocaine and alcohol.”
Danielle Walls is awesome. I can’t wait to find out what happens next.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Next will be a deminshed capacity defence due to the drug use
She plead guilty to 5 counts and will be sentenced on September 26th.
This is so sad…I wonder what her family thinks?
I know this girl, went to highschool with her and she and my best friends little sister would tag along to parties with us. It’s true she does have a party streak but c’mon first she’s 27 not 47 and yes she did make a mistake as a teacher… BUT you have to know her she’s a young 27 more like 20… this guy what a coward. I’m sure she didnt put a gun to his head and say SNORT. 16 year old’s are mature enough to DRIVE but can’t be held responsible for what’s right and wrong?
Now this imature “teacher” willhave to spend years in prison for partying?? Nice legal system…
I went to high school with this girl too and she was a slutty cheerleader. Her parents were/are rich and she got dropped off at school in a Jaguar every morning.
The fact that she did this is fucking hilarious because she was so popular in high school. Obviously, she lost her friends after high school (we all know that popularity in high school ends in high school), so she starts teaching high school and hanging out with high school kids! Doesn’t it make perfect sense? Continues to act like a high schooler, even though she is 27 years old.
What a TOTAL fucking loser! I laughed my ass off the day I got the call when this hit the news.
She deserves whatever she gets, pathetic bitch.
Wow Melissa, bitter much? Seems like maybe you haven’t let go of some pent up anger. Did you get picked on in highschool or what? you seem to be equally pathetic, Melissa. Let it go,
People make mistakes, I can’t say I feel sorry for this chick, BUT the kid was 16. I did far worse at 16 and never claimed to be a victim of some bogus crime. What the hell happened to people, young adults and mature adults alike, being accountable for their actions? This kid can drive a car but can’t say no to cocaine? Makes me sick.
To be 27 and sleep with a 16 year old is not a “mistake”, it is a crime. Sure, the kid knew what he was doing and it was consentual, but that is not the point. The point is that Ms. Walls did something illegal and stupid.
The 16 year old knew what he was doing and enjoyed every minute. What she did was inappropriate for a teacher but it certaily was not rape. The definition of rape needs to be changed for what I feel are obvious reasons. I have no idea what the relationship was totally about but there was certainly no form of force and I wonder why it took to years for their to be any legal action if it really was needed and appropriate. One more law in America that needs work. I understand the age of consent in Canada is 14 and wasn’t there a time in this country when lots of folks were getting married at 14 and 15? Just think, that was before you saw sex in the media in all forms at all times.
The funniest part is, is that Danielle Walls was my senior government teacher in 2002…and the comments before were right “she was smokin”. But now it looks like the stress has gotten to her…Another funny part about this situation is that I know the kid who is the one in question, I used to train with him in Jiu Jitsu, and he is mature for his age and knew what he was doing…I called him a dumb ass when he was trying to blackmail her, but at that time he wanted the money rather than some older ass…I personally would have taken the ass of a former teacher…Whatever I am split on the whole issue of statuatory rape…Doug E Fresh