If Alabama teens can vote, go to war, they can have sex with teachers, lawyer argues

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Taylor Brooks Boyles, 30, of Moulton, is charged with being a school employee engaging in a sex act or deviant sexual intercourse with a student under 19.

She is charged with having sex with then-high school senior Grayson Long, who did not attend Boyles' school.

During testimony in Lawrence County Circuit Court on Monday afternoon, Long, who starred in basketball at Lawrence County High, testified they had sexual intercourse and oral sex at her house two times about a week apart in the spring of 2017 when he spent the night at her house.

On the witness stand, Superintendent Jon Bret Smith said he received a telephone voice message May 18, 2017, from an unidentified source, who informed him of the alleged relationship between Boyles and an unidentified student.

He said he met with the Moulton Middle School principal and Boyles later that day.

“We went through a variety of topics and I asked if there was any sexual contact and she admitted they had sex,” Smith said. He said Boyles named Long in their conversation.

“There was a sense of confusion on her part,” he added.

He ordered the principal to take Boyles to her classroom so she could pick up her personal effects before she was taken off campus. Boyles resigned that day.

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Boyles’ attorney, Mark Dutton of Moulton, made motions for the judge to dismiss the case, arguing the school employee sex law was too broad and vague, and that it was unconstitutional.

He argued an 18-year-old in Alabama can vote and go to war, and that the age of consent in Alabama is 16.

Circuit Judge Mark Craig denied both motions.

“There’s no physical evidence,” Dutton said. “No dirty sheets, no dirty underwear. … No substantial evidence was produced.”

Boyles exercised her right to remain silent during the trial Monday.

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