Teacher and School-Employee Sexual Conduct Laws in Michigan

Michigan's criminal sexual conduct (CSC) statutes contain provisions written specifically for schools. Sexual penetration or sexual contact with a student under 18 is a crime when the actor is a teacher, substitute teacher or administrator of the student's school or district, including when the student is 16 or 17 and not emancipated.^[6][8][1][2] Other school employees, contractors and volunteers are covered when they use that status to gain access to, or to establish a relationship with, the student.^[3] The degree of the offense depends on the student's age and on whether the act is penetration or contact.

If a student is in immediate danger, call 911.^[11] The National Sexual Assault Hotline is free, confidential and open 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673).^[12] Michigan's VOICES4 hotline takes calls and texts at 855-864-2374.^[13]

This page sets out each school provision with all of its conditions, the exceptions written into the text, how courts have read "teacher," and what a charge or conviction means for a teaching certificate and school employment. It describes what the statutes make a crime and how courts have read them. It is not legal advice, and nothing on it is a statement that any conduct is lawful.

The school provisions at a glance

First- and third-degree CSC involve sexual penetration; second- and fourth-degree CSC involve sexual contact.^[14]

Student	Actor	Condition	Penetration	Contact
At least 13 but under 16, enrolled in the school or district	Teacher, substitute teacher or administrator of that school or district	None beyond the role	First-degree CSC[6]	Second-degree CSC[8]
At least 13 but under 16, enrolled in the school or district	Other employee or contractual service provider; volunteer who is not a student; state, local or federal employee assigned to the school	The actor used that status to gain access to, or to establish a relationship with, the person	First-degree CSC[7]	Second-degree CSC[9]
At least 16 but under 18, a student at a public or nonpublic school	Teacher, substitute teacher or administrator of that school or district	Does not apply if the student is emancipated at the time	Third-degree CSC[1]	Fourth-degree CSC[2]
At least 16 but under 18, a student at a public or nonpublic school	Other employee or contractual service provider; volunteer who is not a student; assigned government employee	The actor uses that status to gain access to, or to establish a relationship with, the student	Third-degree CSC[3]	Fourth-degree CSC[4]
At least 16 but under 26, receiving special education services	Teacher, substitute teacher, administrator, employee or contractual service provider of the school or district providing the services	Does not apply if both persons are at least 18 and were lawfully married to each other at the time	Third-degree CSC[15]	Fourth-degree CSC[16]
At least 16 but under 26, receiving special education services	Volunteer who is not a student; assigned government employee	The actor uses that status to gain access to, or to establish a relationship with, the person	Third-degree CSC[17]	Fourth-degree CSC[16]

A student under 13 is covered by the general rule that penetration is first-degree CSC and contact is second-degree CSC, whoever the actor is.^[18][19] A student aged 13 to 15 is likewise covered by the age-only provisions that apply to everyone; the school provisions raise the degree.^[20][6] The general age rules are in age-based CSC charges.

Who counts as a teacher or school employee?

The CSC definitions section does not define "teacher," "substitute teacher" or "contractual service provider."^[21] It does define the kinds of school: a "nonpublic school" is a private, denominational or parochial elementary or secondary school, and a "public school" is a public elementary or secondary educational entity or agency established under the Revised School Code.^[22] Both definitions refer to elementary and secondary schools.^[22] Sexual misconduct at colleges and universities is addressed in the Title IX process.

The statute sorts school personnel into two groups:

• Teachers, substitute teachers and administrators of the school or district. For this group the role is enough.^[1]
• Everyone else connected to the school: an employee or contractual service provider of the school or district in which the student is enrolled, a volunteer who is not a student in any public or nonpublic school, and an employee of the state, a local unit of government or the United States assigned to provide any service to the school. For this group the statute adds that the actor uses the employee, contractual or volunteer status to gain access to, or to establish a relationship with, the student.^[3]

The statute does not name coaches, aides, bus drivers or other job titles; a person in such a job is assessed under whichever of those two groups applies.^[23][3]

Does the time or place matter?

The Court of Appeals has said there is no temporal requirement in the teacher provision. In People v Lewis the Court of Appeals held that if a sexual penetration by a substitute teacher occurs before school, after the school bell rings at the end of the day, on a weekend, or during the summer, prosecution is not foreclosed.^[24] The court reasoned that if the actor's occupation as a substitute teacher allowed access to a student of the relevant age group, the Legislature intended to punish that conduct.^[25]

Status at the time of the act does matter. In People v Hofman the Court of Appeals held the defendant did not qualify because, at the time of the offense, he was not employed by the school the complainant attended and was only the complainant's former substitute teacher.^[25]

Exceptions written into the text

Emancipation

The teacher provision for students aged 16 and 17 "does not apply if the other person is emancipated at the time of the alleged violation."^[1] That is the only exception in that subparagraph.^[5]

Marriage: removed in 2023 for students aged 16 and 17

Until September 27, 2023, the teacher provision also did not apply "if both persons are lawfully married to each other at the time of the alleged violation." 2023 PA 126 removed those words from the third-degree provision and from its fourth-degree counterpart.^[5]

Some published material has not caught up. In the Model Criminal Jury Instructions as posted in October 2026, Use Note 1 to M Crim JI 20.14b still says the teacher paragraph does not apply "if the complainant was emancipated or if the defendant and the complainant are lawfully married to each other," and the note to the special education instruction, M Crim JI 20.14c, still states a marriage exception without the age condition. Both instructions are recorded as added in January 2015.^[26] The current statutory text is the text quoted on this page.^[1][15]

Special education students

For a person at least 16 but under 26 who is receiving special education services, the staff provision does not apply "if both persons are not less than 18 years of age and were lawfully married to each other at the time of the alleged violation."^[15] Before the 2023 amendment that exception had no age floor.^[15]

What is not an exception

None of these provisions contains an exception for agreement by the student.^[6][1][15] For a student under 16, consent is inapplicable as a matter of law.^[27] For a student aged 16 or 17, the offense is complete on proof of the student's age and enrollment and the actor's role, with the added "uses that status" condition for staff other than teachers and administrators.^[1][3] For the under-16 provisions, a reasonable mistake about age is not a defense.^[28]

Penalties

Offense	Classification and maximum in the statute
First-degree CSC	Felony; life or any term of years[29]
Second-degree CSC	Felony; up to 15 years[30]
Third-degree CSC	Felony; up to 15 years[31]
Fourth-degree CSC	Labeled a misdemeanor; up to 2 years, a fine of up to $500, or both[32]

Probation is not available for first- or third-degree CSC.^[33] Under the Sex Offenders Registration Act, third-degree CSC is a Tier III offense, and fourth-degree CSC against a person aged 13 to 17 is a Tier II offense.^[34][35] See the CSC penalties chart and registry tiers.

Reporting duties after a charge

The school code places duties on a school employee from the moment of arraignment:

1. A school employee, or a person regularly working under contract in a school, who is charged with a crime listed in the school code has to report the charge on a state form to the Department of Education and to the school within 3 business days after arraignment.^[36]
2. Failing to make that report is a felony, with a maximum of 2 years or a fine of up to $2,000 or both, if the underlying charge is a felony or a misdemeanor that is a listed offense.^[37]
3. A person who pleads guilty or no contest to, or is found guilty of, any crime after initially being charged with a listed crime has to disclose the school employment to the court immediately on a court form.^[38]
4. A person who reported a charge and is not convicted of any crime may ask the department and the school to delete the report from their records.^[39]

The teaching certificate and school employment

If a certified teacher is convicted of criminal sexual conduct in any degree, assault with intent to commit CSC, or an attempt, the superintendent of public instruction "shall order summary suspension" of the teaching certificate and afterward provide an opportunity for a hearing.^[10] If a teacher who has pleaded to or been found guilty of such a crime is suspended from duty while certificate proceedings are pending, the school must discontinue the teacher's compensation until the superintendent's final decision.^[40]

Where the conviction was for a listed offense under the Sex Offenders Registration Act, the person is not entitled to request a reinstatement hearing.^[41] If a conviction is reversed on final appeal, the certificate is reinstated on notice to the superintendent.^[42]

Separately, a school that verifies an individual has been convicted of a listed offense shall not employ that individual in any capacity or allow the person to regularly and continuously work under contract in its schools.^[43] Conduct can affect employment without a conviction: for school hiring disclosures, "unprofessional conduct" includes inappropriate behavior involving a minor, and a criminal conviction is not an essential element.^[44] See professional licenses and employment.

Reporting suspected abuse

Teachers, school administrators and school counselors are mandated reporters of suspected child abuse.^[45] A mandated reporter has to report immediately to centralized intake and file a written report within 72 hours after an oral report; telling the person in charge of the school does not satisfy the duty.^[45] See mandated reporters of child abuse and, for parents, when a child discloses sexual abuse.

What people get wrong

"Sixteen is the age of consent, so a 16-year-old student can agree." The school provisions apply to students at least 16 but under 18.^[1] See age of consent in Michigan.

"It only counts during school hours." The Court of Appeals has rejected that reading for the teacher provision.^[24]

"Marriage is a defense." Not for students aged 16 and 17 since September 27, 2023.^[5]

"Every school employee is treated like a teacher." For employees other than teachers, substitute teachers and administrators, the prosecutor also has to prove the person used that status to gain access to, or to establish a relationship with, the student.^[3] Other authority relationships are covered in positions of authority and CSC.