Criminology: Dori Myers

Crime is a violation to societal rules of behavior as interpreted and expressed by the criminal law. These criminal behaviors can reflect the public opinion, traditional views and the view point of those who contain social or political authority. Within time, there will appear to be certain experiences that influence individuals to break the law, such as biological, psychological and/or social reasons. In this paper I will discuss about Dori Myers, a formal social studies teacher at New School for Leadership and the Arts, a public school located in the Bronx. Myers was accused back in January for performing oral sex on a 14-year-old male student, multiple times. A classmate supposedly found out about the incident and notified the school’s principle. There was also a witness, such as another teacher who saw Myers massaging the 14-year-old as well. Dori Myers has been charged with “criminal sexual act in the second degree” also with “endangering the welfare of a child”, however she still chose to deny. The incident was also taken to the Department of Education and they called the accusation “deeply troubling”, however instead of firing her from her job, they resigned her away from the students.

On August 1st, Dori Myers pled guilty and entered into a plea agreement consisting of ten years in probation and registered as a Level 1 sex offender and will not be given the title such as “predator”. Level 1 sex offenders are considered as “low risk” and can be de-registered after 20 years while also NOT being listed on the public dictionary. After Myers being fired, the Education Department mentioned she is not allowed to work in the NYC schools ever again. But this does leave the door open for her on becoming a teacher somewhere else. In this assignment, I will argue that the criminal behavior of Dori Myers can be explained due to female sex offenders being underreported. For my argument, I will rely on rational-choice theory of crime and provide a few arguments to support it. First, I believe that Myers already knew that studies shown that there is a limited lack of research concerning female sex offenders. The insufficient studies that exist on this topic have found that the overall percentage rate of sexual offense recidivision for females are very low. Second, I will discuss that as a white individual, Myers was able to avoid two years in prison, and only given ten years of probation, while ALSO keeping her teaching license.

Studies prove that both female and male individuals who are victims of female sex offenders tell no one. Young girls are faced with the trouble of convincing people that another females touch can be abusive and that certain gestures between females can be sexualized. Males often do not report victimization due their physical response and the matter of consent given. This leads to more questions, such as if there was an erection present, if there was abuse, the relationship between the two and if the young male also responded with other sexual acts. After Dori Myers was entered into a plea agreement for ten years in probation and being registered as a Level 1 sex offender. She will also be allowed to de-registered and not be listed on the public dictionary after 20 years. Prosecuting attorneys asked for Myers to get at least two years in prison and to have her teaching certificate revoked. Yes, she did get fired BUT can still teach anywhere else besides New York City. Myers’ attorney describes her as a “model teacher whose career was destroyed by spurious allegations”, but it has also appeared that the male victim posted a video on Snapchat of himself with Dori Myers with the caption of “me and my sexy a** wife.” Due to the students snapchat video it appears that the victim’s own behavior also played an active role in this criminal incident. I strongly disagree with the actions being taken with this case. Dori Myers should get a harsher sentence equal to a male offender. There are multiple people on the original story who are praising the criminal act and claiming that the male victim enjoyed the sexual acts, those are the ones who victim blame turns their heads when a young girl is raped. Unlike those who rightly see the irresponsibility in letting a pedophile run freely. To me, it is sickening seeing the response from most

“boys” applauding this teacher and saying that’s what they all want. As for me, I do not understand how someone can both be a registered sex offender and have a teaching certificate. Within my first argument, I will use rational-choice theory of crime and the lifestyle theory of victimization. In rational choice theory, people make rational choices based on their goals. They behave as they do because they believe that performing their chosen action has more benefits than costs. As for lifestyle theory of victimization, the victims put themselves in danger by engaging in high risk behavior or activities.

Specifically, I will analyze how Myers was aware that because she is a female, that there is a low number of women committing sex crime being reported which avoids them from being detected and prosecuted. The laws that protect victims from sex crimes in history have not considered females as offenders. Rape is often known for the term of forced vaginal intercourse and has made it legally incapable for females to commit the crime. As states continue to develop laws for sex offenders and their time in prison, they are still limited to the research regarding female offenders. While Myers still performed oral sex to the 14-year-old victim, he still gave her consent and did not try to stop the actions being taken at the time. Due to the outcome of Myers using the rational choice theory, you can see that she had careful thought, planning and evaluated her risk of punishment, apprehension and ability to succeed. All of these factors seemed to have gone according to plan because her punishment was not strict enough and she still was able to keep her teaching license.

As an adult, Myers knew what the 14-year-old boy was getting himself into. Which bring us to the use of lifestyle theory of victimization. As mentioned earlier, the 14-year-old male victim posted a video on Snapchat of him and Dori Myers with the caption of “me and my sexy a** wife.” Due to the students snapchat video it appears that the victim’s own behavior also played an active role in this criminal incident. This evidence shows that the victim placed himself in danger by engaging in a high-risk activity.

In conclusion, the criminal behavior of Dori Myers can be explained due to female sex offenders being underreported. This was proven with the use of rational-choice theory of crime. Because of that, we are able to see that Myers was able to avoid two years in prison, and only given ten years of probation, while also being allowed to keep her teaching license. She will also be allowed to teach anywhere else as long as it is not New York City. 

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