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Amorous teacher guilty Lees faces more than six years in the penitentiary By Chris Bristol His infatuation with one of his 8th-grade students cost Tom Lees his career, his wife and his reputation. Now it will cost him his freedom. The former Central Point middle school teacher and basketball coach faces a mandatory sentence of more than six years in prison after a Jackson County jury Thursday found him guilty of sexual abuse for allegedly touching a student on the thigh and grabbing another girl on the buttocks. Trial judge Dan Harris gave Lees, 53, until Tuesday to come up with $15,000 cash bail or report to jail pending sentencing. He remains free on the $5,000 cash bail that he posted pre-trial. The verdicts capped a three-day trial in which the once-popular Scenic Middle School social studies teacher admitted that he became infatuated with one of his students, wooing the 14-year-old girl over the course of two years with cards, gifts and even promises of marriage. But as outrageous as his conduct was, it never rose to the level of a felony. The most the prosecution could charge him with was third-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor, for touching the girl on the inner thigh. It was the second victim that did him in. Because she was 13, her allegation that he reached under her skirt in class one day and grabbed her from behind elevated the offense from third-degree to first-degree sexual abuse. Under Measure 11, Oregon�s controversial truth-in-sentencing law, Lees faces a mandatory sentence of 75 months in prison. His attorney, Carl Caplan, complained the punishment does not fit the crime. Opponents of Measure 11 say the law puts too much power in the hands of prosecutors and unfairly treats first-time offenders the same as career criminals. "This is exactly why Measure 11 should be defeated at the polls," Caplan said, referring to an initiative on the November ballot that would repeal the law. "I can�t think of a better example. "But prosecutor Judi Harper said Lees has skeletons in his closet, hinting that he departed the Eagle Point school district in the mid 1980s because of similar problems. That past will be a factor in his sentencing. "We take into account one-time situations," she said. "This was not one of those cases. We�ll see Mr. Lees� entire background at his sentencing. "In closing arguments Thursday, Caplan described his client as an "easy target" whose judgment was clouded by his easy rapport with students and the immature atmosphere inherent to a middle school. Conceding that his client actively pursued the first girl, Caplan nevertheless insisted Lees never touched the girl sexually. Testimony indicated he met the girl one night at a Medford motel, but she brought along a friend and nothing happened. "His infatuation with (victim No. 1) was inexcusable," Caplan told the jury. "But inexcusable is not the same as criminal. Tom Lees is guilty of many, many things, but he is not a criminal. "As for the second victim, Caplan noted his client�s testimony that he never grabbed her, suggesting instead that she either made the story up or over-dramatized what really happened. At most, Caplan told the jury, Lees was guilty of attempted abuse. But the jury sided with the prosecution�s version of events, which included testimony from the victims as well as incriminating statements Lees made to his wife, who secretly tape-recorded him at the request of police. She has since divorced him. The school fired him. "We entrusted in him our most precious commodity � our kids � and he violated that (trust) horribly," Harper told the jury. "He needs to be held fully accountable for what he did. "In addition to the charges of sexual abuse, the jury found Lees guilty of furnishing the first victim and her friend with vodka at the motel. Earlier in the trial, the court dismissed a charge of attempted third-degree rape for lack of evidence. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA