Matthew Prichard Sentenced
Posted by Webmaster in Art Teachers, Colorado, Hall of Shame, High Schools, ME-FVMatthew 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)
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November 21st, 2008 at 9:20 pm
The therapist that I saw for several months told me the same thing, and there was a point when I started to believe her, and believe in myself. It’s just difficult when I start to think about what may have happened if I had more courage at the time…sometimes I wonder if he’s dating and if she has kids, or if he’s got a teenage neighbor, or if he even has any contact at all outside of his family. It’s a bizarre spectrum of emotions. I bounce between feeling terrible for ruining his life (i was friendly with his daughter at Palmer) and feeling terrible for not speaking up and fighting for a harsher punishment. But now of course, it’s off the table and I start to believe that I let him go free and start over (at least to the extent that he can). It gets me flustered. Seems like no matter what the scenario, I did the wrong thing. And then I read about other cases and think “I can’t believe I did this, he didn’t even rape me”, and that starts a whole new cycle. I’ve mostly gotten to the point where I feel I have control over my life, but certain triggers just push me back down to square one. It’s a vicious cycle.
November 21st, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Part of what predators do is attempt to make their victims feel ashamed and somehow responsible for what happens to the predator when they get caught.
Nothing can be further from the truth, as predators are solely responsible for their criminal acts and deserving of the consequences that befall them. They are cowards that use a wide range of techniques to manipulate their victims physically and emotionally and if they can’t scare their victims into silence, they try to shame them into silence.
Victims should never be ashamed of being victimized, as that is what the predator is counting upon.
It is the predators should be ashamed, not their victims…
November 21st, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I wish I could send a message to the webmaster about this article; I feel false posting on the public forum. However, I truly mean what I am about to say, and I hope it will not be taken as a plea for sympathy or an outright lie. I am the student molested by Mr. Prichard, and I want the webmaster and the two other posters to know how reassuring it is to have someone supporting me, even years after the fact. After the original reports aired on local news and in the Gazette, despite the fact that I was kept unnamed as a minor, the few friends I trusted with detailed information chose not to help me stay anonymous. I spent most of the next years fighting to keep my emotions in check so that my parents would stop treating me like a victim, my classmates would forget about the incident, and so I could bury my humiliation…when Abby suggested that I request that Mr. Prichard leave the state, I did so thinking that if I didn’t see him, I could start to forget. Now in retrospect, I wish I had the nerve to stand up and tell everyone that it wasn’t my fault that he hurt me, and that he deserves his punishment. I greatly appreciate the fact that you believe my accusation and support harsher sentencing for those who abuse children. It makes it easier knowing that there are people willing to stand up for what is right, even when I was too ashamed to do so. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
October 4th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
you should be thrown into jail and be put on the elctric chair and not be able to show your face i hate people like you and y are you even free you are so STUPID……
February 11th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
I cant beleive this guy is free!