AUGUSTA (AP) – A former Monmouth Academy teacher has lost his state teacher certification following his guilty plea to having a sexual relationship with a female student.

Christopher Dumaine, 39, is serving a nine-month sentence after pleading guilty this month to two counts of assault and unlawful sexual contact. Dumaine had worked at the school since 1995.

State law prevents officials from issuing information about the status of a teaching certificate – whether it’s suspended or revoked.

Education Department spokesman David Connerty-Marin said he could confirm that Dumaine is no longer certified to teach in Maine, but could provide nothing more than the dates of certification.

Dumaine was last certified to teach on Nov. 20, Connerty-Marin said, eight days after he pleaded guilty.

Gov. John Baldacci has vowed to propose legislation to change confidentiality provisions in a 1913 state law that keeps secret the reasons why teachers have lost their certification. The law came to light after an Associated Press report showed Maine was the only state that did not release information about why teachers lost certification.

The governor’s office is working with education officials to draft legislation, which is expected to be taken up at the start of the next legislative session in January, according to David Farmer, the governor’s spokesman.

A change in the law would help protect students, Farmer said.

“We are not going to have someone who is convicted of being a child molester teaching in the schools,” Farmer said.

Education Department certification rules say a person must be of “good moral character” to receive a certificate, and that sexual abuse or exploitation of a child are grounds for revocation or suspension.

But under current law, the department can’t tell the public why Dumaine lost his certification.

“This is very frustrating,” Connerty-Marin said. “This case illustrates the confusion around the law and why it needs to be fixed.”

Copy the Story Link