A number of school sex abuse scandals have hit the headlines in California recently. Many allegations of sex crimes involving teachers are proven, but unfortunately, as San Diego sex crimes lawyers know, many are not. Across the pond, authorities are proposing the prosecution of students who make false allegations of abuse and other crimes against teachers.

A recent study in the UK found that a majority of the allegations of sex crimes, sex abuse, assault and other crimes made by students against teachers were unsubstantiated. The UK's largest teachers union is reacting to this increase in baseless and unfounded allegations against teachers.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers represents teachers throughout the United Kingdom. According to data from the union, less than one out of every 20 allegations made by children against schoolteachers resulted in any kind of court action. These allegations included everything from assaults to threats. According to the union, in 2011, most allegations that were made by children against teachers did not result in court action. A total of 103 claims were made that year. However, no legal action was taken in more than 60 of these claims. Another 39 claims are yet to be concluded, but the union estimates that it is very unlikely that most of these claims made it to court either.

Now, the union is insisting that children who make false allegations against teachers be prosecuted. They want schools to have procedures in place under which a child who makes any allegation against a teacher is made aware right at the beginning of the investigation that if, later down the line, he or she is found to have lied, there will be serious consequences.

Some new measures are now in place to protect teachers. For instance, a new piece of legislation gives teachers the right to anonymity until they are actually charged with a criminal offense. Additionally, schools have been ordered to speed up investigations into claims made by children against teachers. However, many teachers believe that these measures are insufficient to protect them from such unsubstantiated allegations.

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The recent actions of Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant coach of Penn State who is currently at the center of a sex crime scandal, provides valuable lessons for persons who have been accused of sex crimes. Last week, Sandusky spoke to NBC's Bob Costas in his first interview after charges of child sex abuse were filed against him. Those charges stem from allegations that he molested young boys at his Second Mile Foundation.

In the interview, Sandusky denies that he is a pedophile, but makes several statements that he could find difficult to deny later. For one, he admits that he frequently took showers with young boys. He also does not deny that he had touched these boys in the leg region, although without any sexual intent. He admits that in hindsight, he can see that he should not have showered with those boys at all.

The problem with the interview is that whatever he said is now part of the case against him. If his criminal defense lawyers were planning to use outright denial that he was ever in any shower with any boys as part of their strategy, that defense now goes out the window.

One of the first pieces of advice that San Diego criminal Defense attorneys would give any public figure accused of sex crimes is - be silent. Any public statement that a defendant makes can find its way to court in the form of testimony against the defendant.

What Sandusky could have done was release a public statement proclaiming his innocence, instead of exposing himself to the media. Very little good can come out of offering yourself up for public consumption in this manner. It's likely that the beleaguered former coach felt under pressure to have his say, but it is not a course of action that any San Diego criminal defense lawyer would advise any person facing serious criminal charges.