A few years before I wrote Soul Searching, my husband was on the jury for a case where a middle-aged man was accused of sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl.
In the trial, the girl was old enough to consent, but the prosecution argued that the man was in a position of authority (textbook sexual misconduct; position of authority trumps consent).
The jury had to decide if the position of authority claim held water.
The man had known the girl since she was a kid. He had previously been her sports coach, he was friends with her parents, and the girl and his own daughter were friends. He was giving her college admissions advice during their relationship. He advised her on exactly how far they could go together without getting into trouble, and there was some petting but no penetration. Sexual contact but no sex.
The situation was complicated by the fact that the man was suffering PTSD from being shot at his workplace the year previous. It affected his decision-making and was almost certainly the reason he took up with the girl.
My husband told me (after the trial, as you can’t discuss it during) all of the things that were going on, but I’m going to tell you about the deliberations room. There were two men who seemed dead-set to convict no matter what, because they found a middle-aged man romancing a young girl skeevy. Everyone else took it very seriously because they didn’t want to make a mistake. My husband played devil’s advocate for most of the deliberations (two days, I think it was), just to help people think about all the angles. He wanted to consider every little detail, leaving nothing out, in order to make a fair and accurate decision.
After a night mulling the case over, he told the others, “I’ve come to the conclusion that authority is about trust.” He pointed out that while the man wasn’t in a direct position of authority over the girl at the time of their relationship, he had been a constant in her life in one way or another, and always in a role that engendered trust.
The man was convicted of sexual misconduct. I don’t think he had to register as a sex offender, as misconduct isn’t a felony, but it ruined his career.
See, the jury’s job wasn’t to judge the man as a person (they all felt bad for the guy, except for those two who were ready to convict the moment they heard “17-year-old girl”) but the law is a set of rules, and the jury had to judge his actions based on the law.
The courtroom felt heavy when they read the verdict.
When I thought about Liam in Soul Searching, about his position at the start as teacher, adult, and soulmate, it was informed by what I learned about sexual misconduct, even if I didn’t quite realize it until later; in a soulmate universe, Liam might not have gotten in legal trouble if he’d interacted sexually with Paige, but he was absolutely in a position of trust and authority. I wanted him to care about that even if he could have legally gotten away with dating a teen.
(Major Spoiler Below)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Major Spoiler Below)
This also means that the separation of Liam and Paige in later chapters was vital. It let them break away from the teacher-student dynamic and yanked Liam off the pedestal Paige had placed him on. She'd needed to see him as a person, not as an authority figure or an ideal. It wasn't just about skipping ahead to Paige being eighteen: it was about giving their relationship the breather it needed to reset how they saw each other. It stripped Liam's authority away in Paige's eyes, and it gave Liam the opportunity to see her as more than a high school student when he came back.
This also means that the separation of Liam and Paige in later chapters was vital. It let them break away from the teacher-student dynamic and yanked Liam off the pedestal Paige had placed him on. She'd needed to see him as a person, not as an authority figure or an ideal. It wasn't just about skipping ahead to Paige being eighteen: it was about giving their relationship the breather it needed to reset how they saw each other. It stripped Liam's authority away in Paige's eyes, and it gave Liam the opportunity to see her as more than a high school student when he came back.
