Missouri AG wants former teacher's license revoked

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The attorney general's office wants the teaching license revoked for a former priest and teacher accused of sexual misconduct.

James Beine has a lifetime certificate to teach English and Latin in seventh to 12th grades, and a lifetime counseling certificate.

Beine, also a former priest, was convicted in 2003 of sexual misconduct involving a child by indecent exposure. But the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the conviction, finding the state law was unconstitutionally broad. He also has faced lawsuits alleging sexual abuse.

Beine was also convicted of possessing child pornography, but that conviction was overturned in December 2003, with an appeals court ruling that investigators illegally seized key evidence against Beine.

Attorney General Jay Nixon said Monday that he asked the State Board of Education last week to take away the teaching and counseling certificates. The board had removed them following Beine's conviction, but they had to be reinstated when it was overturned, the attorney general's office said.

The attorney general's office said Beine now lives in Las Vegas, but it wants to make sure he can't return to teach in Missouri.