Eugene chemistry teacher sentenced to prison for sex abuse

EUGENE, Ore. — A high school chemistry teacher convicted of sexually abusing two students was sentenced to two years in prison.

Curtis N. Buell, 26, was also sentenced to five years supervised probation and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

"We're certainly very pleased that the judge saw fit to impose a term of imprisonment because of the general deterrent effect it might have on teachers who are considering engaging in inappropriate conduct with their students, said Erik Hasselman, deputy district attorney in Lane County.

A jury convicted the former Churchill High teacher of four felony and 11 misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse in August after one day of deliberations. Buell was accused of touching the girls intimately over and under their clothing, having one girl touch his genitals and performing oral sex on one girl.

Most of the encounters occurred at the teacher's office or the school auditorium. One incident occurred at Buell's Eugene home.

"The crime's particularly egregious because parents just don't send their kids to school to be abused or taken advantage of by their teachers," Hasselman said. "Although it could be argued that the contact was consensual, the balance of power is so disparate between a teacher and students that it's hard to conclude these young ladies had the same power to say no as they would have had in a traditional relationship."

The case broke when one of the girls shared some details with her boyfriend. He told his parents, and they contacted school administrators and police.

Lane County Judge Gregory Foote on Tuesday thanked the boy for having the courage to report the abuse.

During their investigation, Eugene police found that Buell had placed more than 1,000 phone calls to one of the victims and several hundred to the other. He was placed on paid administrative leave last October and resigned Jan. 31.

Police arrested him in March.

More than 2,500 U.S. educators were punished for sexual misconduct from 2001-05, according to a recent investigation by The Associated Press.

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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com

AP-WS-10-31-07 0350EDT