Christopher Eng, 23, owner and former operator of Critters Childcare at Beacon Hill and Kimball elementary schools, in Seattle, Washington who pleaded guilty last month to molesting two young boys in his care has been sentenced.

King County Superior Court Judge William Downing sentenced Eng to at least 16 1/2 years in prison. In sentencing Eng the judge said, “It’s a crime against all society.”

Eng could end up locked up for life as his release date, if any, from prison will be determed by the state’s Indeterminate Sentence Review Board, which acts as a parole board for certain sex offenders.

Eng came to the attention of authorities when a then 10-year-old boy told his mother that Eng had been molesting him for two years and had done so at Eng’s home and in the schools, including in the teachers lounge at Beacon Hill Elementary. Eng admitted molesting the boy more than a dozen times between September 2004 and August 2006.

After Eng was arrested a second alleged victim came forward. Eng denied having sexual contact with the second boy, who was 7 at the time. Eng indicated he pleaded guilty because of the likelihood of being convicted at trial and to take advantage of a plea deal offered by prosecutors.

The mother of the first victim call Eng “this predator” and said that her son, once happy, confident and extroverted, became sad, silent and withdrawn while in Eng’s care, too traumatized to tell her what was wrong.

The boy’s mother indicated that the only worse act that Eng could have committed was to murder her child. But in a sense, he did that to her son, too. She said , “He murdered his innocence, he murdered his self-esteem and trust in adults in general.“.

The victim’s mother also said, “The day my child told me what this pedophile did to him, my world ended and I wanted to die. I wanted to crash the car we were both in so we wouldn’t have to feel the pain, the shame, the confusion and the horror of the knowledge of what had happened to him.”

The victim, now 11, told the judge that Eng, “messed up my life“. “He’s changed the future“. “Give him the maximum number of years, because when he gets out, he’s probably going to mess up more lives.“.

References:

Seattle day care operator sentenced to prison (9/29/07)

Child molester gets long sentence (9/29/07)

Former day care operator sentenced to prison (9/28/07)

Matthew Prichard, 44, a former art teacher at Palmer High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado has been sentenced after pleading guilty to a felony count of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.

4th Judicial District Judge Ronald Crowder sentenced Prichard on Friday to 10 years to life of intensive, sex offender’s supervised probation. The judge said that the only reason he didn’t send Prichard to jail for up to 90 days is because the victim wanted him gone and Prichard has indicated that he intends to move to Ohio to be nearer to family.

Deputy District Attorney Abby Wallace said that Prichard did not take responsibility for his actions because he told a presentence investigator the girl sent him notes and came on to him. Prichard’s attorney told Judge Crowder that his client has “lost everything” including his job here, his house here, his marriage and all the friends he had here.

Prichard told the judge “I’ve lost a great deal in this process. I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to rebuild my life.”

The victim is a 16-year-old female student who told police that during a semester in 2006 that Prichard made sexually suggestive comments to her, pulled her shirt down to expose her breasts, fondled her and put her hand on his crotch and did so all on school grounds and during school hours.

It was alleged that during the investigation that Colorado Springs Police recorded a conversation the girl had with Prichard in which he apologized and sought assurance she would not tell others of the sexual assaults.

The following is an editorial/opinion of the webmaster of Bad Bad Teacher

This is yet another case in which it appears the guilty party is sincerely “sorry”.
Sorry, only that he was caught, not sorry for victimizing a student.

That Mr. Prichard has supposedly “lost everything” should be a clue to him as to how normal, law-abiding people view the actions of perverts that prey upon children.

Evidently this lesson is lost on Prichard who apparently to some degree blames the victim for his “loss”.

Additionally, Mr. Prichard’s lenient sentence which includes no jail time what-so-ever is not going to deter others that might be similarly tempted in the future. While the judge is wise to consider the wishes of the victim in sentencing criminals, judges should also consider the implications of their sentencing decisions for future victims.

Mr. Prichard deserves to be in jail, at least for a while, if for no other reason than to deter future “Mr. Prichards” from thinking they too “can get away with it”…

Reference:

Ex-Palmer teacher gets supervised probation (9/28/07)

Background:

Teacher Arrested for Sexual Assault

Teacher suspected in sexual assault (1/24/07)

Richard Saunders, 55, a former chemistry teacher at Maclay School in Tallahassee, Florida who was convicted of 300 counts of child pornography has been sentenced.

Saunders who reportedly had been collecting more than a million pornographic images for over 20 years had worked for Maclay School for 25 years as a physics and chemistry teacher when arrested in early September of 2006.

In spite of the minimum penalty for Saunders was nearly 101 years in prison Leon Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Dekker sentenced Saunders to 15 years in prison and 40 years of probation. Judge Dekker said, she considered him a “low risk” because as a teacher he had opportunities to act on his pedophilia but he never did.

The judge in handing down the grossly lenient sentence in light of the 300 count conviction also said, “If I had one iota of evidence that he was about ready to act out any of the fantasies in any way, I would have sentenced him to life and not batted an eye”.

Assistant State Attorney Frank Allman said he has not decided whether he will appeal the sentence.

References:

Former teacher gets 15 years in prison in child porn case (9/28/07)

Sex offender awaits sentencing (9/25/07)

Background:

Maclay Teacher Arrested (9/11/06)