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Teacher gets 75 months in prison By Chris Bristol A former Central Point middle school teacher accused of courting female students was sentenced to more than six years in prison Monday for grabbing a girl�s buttocks. Tom Lees, 53, was convicted by a jury in August of first-degree sexual abuse � which carries a mandatory penalty of 75 months in prison � for allegedly reaching under the skirt of a 13-year-old Scenic Middle School student one day and grabbing her buttocks. The jury also convicted Lees of third-degree sexual abuse for allegedly touching a 14-year-old Scenic student on the thigh � an allegation Lees denied, although he admitted he was infatuated with the girl and promised to marry her some day. Trial judge Daniel Harris said school teachers have a special trust in the community, a trust Lees violated. "You violated this trust in a most offensive way," Harris said. "I think your conduct was reprehensible. You preyed on young girls, girls who looked up to male adult teachers." On the face of it, a prison sentence of more than six years for grabbing a girl�s buttocks may seem unjust, even if the defendant was a school teacher. But there was more to the case against Lees than that. Also under consideration was the testimony Monday from Dava Oas, a Portland woman who is one of Lees� former students. Oas testified she was molested by Lees during the 1981-82 school year, when she was an 8th-grader at Eagle Point Junior High School and Lees was a popular social studies teacher. Even though the statute of limitations expired years ago, prosecutor Judi Harper said Oas� experience was one of the main reasons Lees was brought up on a Measure 11 charge in the Central Point case. Oas, now a 31-year-old mother of two, said Lees picked her to be one of his student aides at a time she needed a father figure. Her parents were divorcing, and she missed her father. But the relationship soon began to cross the line, Oas testified. A stolen kiss at a school dance turned into something far more serious: Lees began molesting her at school, sometimes sneaking away with her to a closet that adjoined an empty classroom. "The new feelings and emotions I began experiencing were confusing, and I felt ashamed of what we were doing and I knew it was wrong," Oas told the court. "Yet I continued to allow him to do these things to me. I was afraid of losing his love and afraid of anyone finding out and afraid that he would be sent away and that I would end up completely alone. "My father was gone, and I could not bear to lose Mr. Lees." She said Lees promised to marry her when she turned 18, even though he was already married and had two young boys. Her mother overheard them on the phone one day and complained to school officials. Lees later resigned. "The last time I ever talked to him, he called me to plead with me to say nothing to the police or anyone else," Oas testified. "He told me to tear up the cards and letters he sent me. He told me that if I told anyone about what he had done, that they would send him to jail forever." After hearing Oas� testimony, the mother of the 14-year-old Central Point girl Lees courted in the most recent case told the judge she couldn�t believe what she was hearing. "It�s exact, what he said to her, what he did to her," the girl�s mother complained. "He�s devastated my daughter�s life." Central Point fired Lees last year. Under the terms of Measure 11, the 75-month sentence for first-degree sexual abuse is mandatory. Early release for any reason is forbidden. Harris gave Lees until 7 p.m. today to report to jail. He declined to stay the sentence pending appeal, as requested by defense attorney Carl Caplan. Reach reporter Chris Bristol at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.