LANSING, Mich. – Students and teachers in Michigan can legally have sexual relationships, as long as the student is at least 18 years old.

Several state lawmakers and law enforcement officials are hoping to change the law to protect students who might fall victim to predator teachers, WoodTV.com reports.

That was apparently the case with Saranac High School teacher Alison Hoendervanger, who sent sexy text messages to a student and eventually had sex with him shortly after he turned 18, Ionia County Prosecutor Ron Schafer told the news station.

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“All the teacher has to do is wait until they are 18,” Schafer said, adding that there’s nothing stopping predatory teachers from grooming students beforehand, as is often the case.

“Teachers that might be inclined to this activity have free reign at our students during these very difficult four to five years,” he said. “It doesn’t happen overnight.”

The situation prompted Sen. Rick Jones to introduce legislation that has twice passed the state Senate to criminalize any sexual contact between teachers and students of any age, but the legislation has stalled in the Michigan House, WoodTV reports.

“There is just some thinking that it’s an unnecessary step,” Anna Heaton, spokesperson for Speaker of the House Jase Bolger. “This is just some members. This is not the opinion of the entire caucus. But most school districts make this a condition of employment now that when you are a teacher, you get a contract and sign it, you have to say you will not have relations with a student and that you can be fired if you do.”

Terminating a teacher for sexual relations with a student, and making it a criminal offense, however, are not the same. Educators who are terminated for having sex with a student can obviously seek employment in another school district, and continue to court students.

That’s impossible if the teacher is in prison.

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The most obvious problem with teachers having sex with their 18-year-old students is the teacher holds considerable sway over the student’s grades, and prospects for college and their future, officials said.

“You have young students. They are very impressionable,” Jones told WoodTV. “They have teachers and coaches controlling the future of their life.”

Schafer said that reality certainly played a role in Hoendervanger’s case and others.

Hoendervanger’s victim told police he continued in his relationship with the teacher because he feared she wouldn’t help him graduate or get into the Army if he broke it off, WoodTV reports.

“Why nothing has happened when we continue to see these same problems is perplexing,” Schaefer told WoodTV.