By Maria Allard
C & G Staff Writer

MOUNT CLEMENS — A former Roseville High School teacher on probation for having an inappropriate affair with a student was fined $500 after she violated her probation.

On March 17, Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Mark Switalski determined Janelle Batkins violated her probation when she attended the state high school wrestling finals, in which her son was a competitor, March 12 at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Batkins, 43, who taught French at RHS, is on probation for having a sexual relationship with a student while he was her aide during his senior year 2006-2007. In May 2008, Batkins pleaded no contest to two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the second degree.

In July, Switalski sentenced Batkins to three years probation, 240 hours of community service and to continue receiving counseling. As punishment, the married mother of two also was required to register as a sex offender and was forbidden to have contact with her accuser.

The punishment meant Batkins couldn’t attend her younger son’s wresting meets and football games because they are held at schools.

According to defense attorney David Griem, his client did not violate her probation by attending the meet based on two reasons. For one, at The Palace, she reportedly stayed in a suite with other adults.

“The probation officers in her report to the court (stated) in careful review of the Student Safety Zone Act, the defendant does not appear to have violated that act,” Griem said.

As a second defense, Griem said, the accuser took pictures of Batkins while at the wrestling finals.

“He was stalking her and taking photos of her,” said Griem, adding that describing the complainant in the case as a victim “is a complete denigration of that word.”

The teen’s name is being withheld from the public because he was 17 during the affair and is considered a minor in the case.

A no contest plea is treated like a guilty plea. With a guilty plea, there’s an admission of wrongdoing by the defendant on record, while with no contest, there’s no admission of wrongdoing by the defendant.

The teen was present with his family during the July sentencing.

“It was nothing but a slap on the wrist,” his mother said on sentencing day. “I would never in a million years think of having a relationship with a 16- or 17-year-old child. That's disgusting. This is a very sick woman. She didn't think she did anything wrong.”

When discussing the case, Griem stressed the student was the aggressor in the relationship. He and Batkins first met when he was in the eighth-grade and attended a school wrestling trip to Iowa. He was on the same wrestling team as one of her sons.

The pair became reacquainted during his 10th-grade year at RHS. The two reportedly had sex many times during his senior year at her Harrison Township home.

While the legal age of consent to have sex in Michigan is 16, Batkins was charged with the crime because she was in a position of authority during the affair.

Griem said Batkins had “some emotional stability issues at the time.” He added the student bragged to his friends about the relationship.

“This was a game for these kids,” the lawyer said. “He was bragging about it all over school.”

You can reach Staff Writer Maria Allard at allard@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1045.