A Clackamas County judge on Friday sentenced a retired Portland Public Schools teacher to six months in jail and 60 months probation after he was found guilty of sexually touching six Oregon City middle school students on one day while substituting as their gym teacher in 2015.
"I know this is a very difficult day for everyone involved in this case," Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Jones said before announcing the sentence of Norman Scott, 66, of Oregon City.
After the judge announced his decision, Scott, dressed in a navy-blue suit, white shirt and dark-patterned tie, stood and placed his hands behind his back. A sheriff's deputy put handcuffs on Scott's wrists. Moments later, the deputy led Scott through a side courtroom door, one of the first steps toward the county jail where he would be processed and begin serving his sentence.
Jones rejected a defense motion that Scott, the father of four grown children, be allowed to begin serving his sentence after Thanksgiving, saying that if he did so, "I would be treating him differently than other people."
Jones on Oct. 20 found Scott guilty of third-degree sexual abuse and harassment at the end of a two-week trial. Jones heard testimony from girls who described how Scott touched their breasts, thighs, bottoms and other parts of their bodies while they were in seventh grade at Gardiner Middle School. Most were 12 at the time.
Scott waived his right to a jury trial and chose not to testify in his own defense. He was indicted in June 2016, arrested the next month and posted $100,000 bail the same day. Scott, who had no previous criminal record, has been out of jail custody since then.
Scott taught for 36 years as a health and physical education teacher with Portland Public Schools. He taught at Sellwood Middle School and later at Grant High School before retiring in June 2012.
The sentence also requires Scott to register as a sex offender, undergo and complete sex offender treatment and have no contact with people under the age of 18. It prevents him from contacting the victims. He must surrender his Oregon teaching license and is prohibited from visiting "any school property," the judge said.
"We're dealing with a breach of trust by a school teacher," Jones said before announcing his sentence. "We're dealing with a breach of trust involving seventh graders ... at school, where students should expect to be safe from sexual abuse."
Jones then recounted the testimony he heard, noting that "the defendant's behavior escalated as the day progressed."
Just before announcing the sentence, Jones said he hoped the terms would "act as a deterrent to others, so that a message is sent to other individuals who may be so inclined to engage in this kind of conduct and abuse." He then paused and added, "Criminal conduct."
On Thursday, Scott's attorneys told the judge Scott and his wife were the primary at-home caregivers for Scott's 93-year-old father, who has Alzheimer's disease. In his sentencing, Jones said up to a one-day release from jail could be granted to deal with end-of-life issues for Scott's father if that need arose during the jail sentence.
About 40 people were in the audience, most of them Scott's friends and family. There was no audible reaction to the judge's sentence.
At Scott's trial, defense attorney Jacob Houze said Scott was falsely accused, noting inconsistencies and contradictions in the students' statements. Houze also said Oregon City police didn't conduct a thorough investigation.
Jones delivered the sentence a day later than expected. On Thursday, he heard 31/2 hours of arguments about the sentence from Scott's Portland attorneys, Stephen Houze and Jacob Houze, and from Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Healy.
Healy recommended a year in the county jail and 60 months' probation, noting that prosecutors pursued lesser charges against Scott rather than a felony changes. Had he been convicted of a felony, Scott could have been sentenced, under Measure 11 guidelines, up to 75 years in prison, Healy said.
Houze urged no jail term and instead recommended three years of probation and 500 hours of community service. If the judge deemed a more severe punishment was warranted, Houze said, then it should be home detention.
Regardless of sentence, Houze told the judge Thursday the guilty verdict would be appealed, saying there was not enough evidence for a conviction.
--Allan Brettman
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