Teacher gets five years for child rape, molestation

EVERETT -- Second-grade teacher Susan Lemery was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for fondling and raping a 14-year-old boy.

A jury of six men and six women deliberated for more than 23 hours over a span of four days before finding Lemery, 38, guilty on June 21 of three counts of third-degree child rape and two counts of third-degree child molestation.

The jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favor of guilt on a molestation charge that involved a second 14-year-old boy. That count was dismissed.

The five-year sentence is the state's mandatory penalty for child rape and molestation

At the time of her conviction, defense attorney David Allen promised an appeal on several grounds, including a contention that a police search of Lemery's computer hard drive was overly broad. Lemery's teaching license will be revoked if the convictions stand up on appeal.

Jurors said they were convinced of her guilt by a collection of details that corroborated one accuser's stories and not hers.

Those details included automated-teller-machine receipts and Boeing timecards that showed that her husband's absences from the home matched the boy's stories, but not his wife's.

During her trial, witnesses testified that Lemery frequently filled her family's Marysville house with the 14-year-old friends of her oldest son, boys and girls, on one occasion going so far as to buy them a supply of over-the-counter drugs for an "energy pill" party.

Lemery has been on administrative leave with pay from her second-grade teaching job at Olivia Park Elementary School in South Everett since the charges were filed in June 2001.

The Seattle Times version:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134500992_lemery27w.html

Susan Lemery sentenced to five years in prison

By J. Patrick Coolican
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

EVERETT — Susan Lemery looked poised and relaxed this morning as Superior Court Judge Ellen J. Fair sentenced her to the maximum five years in prison for her recent conviction on three counts of third-degree child rape and two counts of third-degree child molestation.

The former Mulkiteo School District second-grade teacher was convicted last month for sexual activity with one of her son's middle school-aged friends in the spring of 2001.

Neither the victim nor his family spoke during the sentencing hearing. Instead, Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Lisa Paul asked Judge Fair to consider the "pain and humiliation" the boy endured and continues to feel given the widespread media attention the case has attracted. The victim is still in counseling, Paul said.

Lemery, 38, remained silent during the hearing on the advice of her defense attorney David Allen.

Allen said Lemery was ready to serve her sentence and asked Judge Fair to consider that "She's led an exemplary life up until now."

In doling out the sentence, Judge Fair said that as an educator Lemery had a special responsibility to be a role model outside the classroom.

"I can't think of any course of conduct more counterproductive than this," he said. "To say it's disappointing would be the understatement of the year."

Judge Fair said Lemery's actions and the ensuing trial had "caused (the victim) and his family a lot of pain."

In addition to serving five years in prison, Lemery is subject to 36 to 48 months of community supervision when she is released, must register as a sex offender and will not be allowed to associate with minors, thereby effectively ending her teaching career. She will also have to pay restitution for the victim's counseling.

Outside the hearing, Lemery's husband Dan Lemery expressed support for his wife. "We have a very strong marriage, and I'm behind her 100 percent." He declined to answer questions. The Marysville couple have three children.

Allen said Lemery stands by her testimony at trial, and said an appeal is likely.

another P-I article about the case:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/80272_lemery27.shtml

Former teacher given five years for raping boy

Judge tells Lemery, 'Sentence can never match the harm done'

Saturday, July 27, 2002

By M.L. LYKE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

EVERETT -- Outfitted in a smart navy blue pantsuit, ankle chains barely visible above heeled pumps, Susan Gay Lemery sat expressionless yesterday as a judge sentenced her to five years in prison for raping a 14-year-old boy.

The judge had harsh words for the former second-grade teacher.

"The sentence today can never match the harm done," said Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ellen Fair.

Behind Lemery, the mother of the raped boy clutched the hands of supporters, tears in her eyes.

Lemery, whose attorney successfully fought for her right to wear regular clothes to her sentencing, instead of an orange jail jumpsuit, declined to make a statement.

Defense attorney David Allen said Lemery was "terribly humiliated by the situation she is in."

On June 21, a jury convicted the 38-year-old Marysville woman on three counts of third-degree child rape, and two counts of third-degree child molestation.

The jurors deadlocked 11-1 on a molestation charge that involved a second 14-year-old boy.

Each of the five counts carries a state-mandated sentence of 60 months. The sentences will run concurrently.

Lemery, on leave for the past year from her teaching job at Olivia Park Elementary School in South Everett, has continued to deny allegations that she sexually abused two of her son's 14-year-old friends.

She did admit in court, though, to using bad judgment.

"It was a lot of fun being out with the kids and doing fun things," she said, "and I just wasn't thinking."

Investigators said that teenagers regularly partied with Lemery and her son at their Marysville house, often sleeping over, and that she even gave them over-the-counter stimulants for an "energy pill" bash.

The 14-year-old rape victim testified that Lemery first fondled him on the family couch, and then, on three occasions, had intercourse with him in her home.

The second boy also accused her of fondling him, saying he woke up in her house to find her stroking him.

Jurors said they were convinced of her guilt after examining details of the case. These included DNA analysis of samples taken from a bedroom comforter, receipts that showed her husband's absences from the home during the encounters and e-mail messages that Lemery tried to erase from the hard drive of her computer the same day she was placed on leave at school.

Lemery testified that she was erasing the computer memory because it was "acting up."

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lisa Paul said she hopes Lemery comes to grips with her guilt in prison.

"It's unfortunate that the defendant has not yet accepted responsibility for what she did," Paul said.

Paul and Allen sparred briefly over the issue of Lemery's civilian clothes. It is standard for convicted felons to wear orange jail jumpsuits and shackles during sentencing.

Paul said she hoped the defendant, instead of worrying about what she wears, would be concerned about the pain she caused the victim.

Allen said he took strong exception to an implication that Lemery was trying to glorify herself as a media star. "We tried to keep the media from taking photos," he said.

Lemery will likely serve her sentence at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Purdy, where former schoolteacher Mary K. Letourneau is serving 7 1/2 years for rape of an adolescent boy.

Despite similarities, a detective who investigated the Lemery case, said the two cases don't compare.

"Mary K. Letourneau fell in love with one boy and had a relationship. Susan Lemery took advantage of whoever was there," Detective Lee Malkow said. "Let's just say there was no romance involved."

Judge Fair described Lemery's actions as disappointing and puzzling. When a person makes a decision to dedicate her life to teaching, she said, she is also taking on the challenge of serving as an ethical role model.

"I can't think of any action that would have been more destructive," Fair said.

The judge ordered Lemery to pay for counseling and medical bills of her victim, to be HIV-tested and to submit to DNA identification analysis. A restitution hearing to determine costs for the victim has been set for Oct. 9.

Paul also pushed for tough restrictions on Lemery when she is released in five years.

"It is important to keep this defendant on a very short leash when she is released," Paul said.

Lemery will be on community custody for 36 to 48 months following release. She is ordered to register as a sex offender, undergo counseling, and have no contact with her victim.

The judge also ordered Lemery not to use computer chat rooms or instant messaging.

She cannot initiate or prolong contact with minor children without adult supervision, or seek employment that puts her in contact with minor children -- including any positions with a school district.

Unless her convictions are overturned on appeal, Lemery will lose her teaching license anyway.

As his wife was being led away from the courtroom yesterday, her chains clinking above the heeled pumps, Dan Lemery gave a brief statement.

The family still supports her, he said. "We're behind her 100 percent."

Attorney Allen said he's certain there will be an appeal. He has 30 days to file.

A male teacher raping boys can have worse consequences:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/breaking_news/3786791.htm

Teacher in sex case HIV positive
Associated Press

NEW YORK - A former public school second-grade teacher accused of sexually abusing six boys was HIV positive at the time of at least one of the alleged attacks, prosecutors said.

Milton McFarlane, 39, was arraigned Thursday on reckless endangerment and other charges, accused of molesting six boys between the ages of 7 and 9 at a Bronx public school where he taught.

He remains jailed without bail and if convicted, could face at least 50 years in prison. His next court hearing is Oct. 3.

The charges are in addition to those filed by a grand jury May 14, 2001, when McFarlane was accused of sodomy, sexual abuse, and endangering the welfare of a child, the Daily News reported Friday.

The most serious allegations involve a 9-year-old boy who McFarlane repeatedly sodomized on school grounds. McFarlane also allegedly abused two 8-year-old boys by touching them.

Calls to prosecutors Friday morning were not immediately returned, and it was not known if the children have been tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

McFarlane, who was arrested last year and has been fired, had been disciplined after two boys accused him of sexual misconduct in 1998, but was allowed to remain in the classroom.

Some of the allegations against him were never reported to police, the Board of Education discovered after his arrest and one school investigator has been fired.

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