An Eastern Washington University graduate is accused of having sex with a teenage student while a gym teacher in Yakima. 

The 17-year-old student testified Tuesday that he had sex with Michele Leingang Taylor, 31, in the back seat of her pickup truck in a Kmart parking lot.

The teen said he had received a text message from Taylor, a physical education teacher at East Valley High School in Yakima and a married mother of triplets, to meet him in May of last year and that she pulled him into the back seat.

Taylor is on trial in Yakima County Superior Court, charged with sexual misconduct and immoral communication with a minor.

She earned her teaching certificate from Eastern Washington and is in the Centralia College sports hall of fame for softball.

For an in-depth story from the Yakima Herald-Republic on the case, click the link below.

By Mark Morey
Yakima Herald-Republic, Wash.
(MCT)

Jun. 9--YAKIMA, Wash. -- A 17-year-old testified Tuesday that he made up an excuse to leave his girlfriend's house so he could have sex with his teacher.

The nighttime encounter in her husband's pickup allegedly took place behind the Kmart store outside of Yakima, the student told jurors during Michele Taylor's trial in Yakima County Superior Court.

Taylor, a 31-year-old physical education teacher at East Valley High School, is accused of having sex with the student and sending inappropriate text messages to him and a then-15-year-old student in 2009.

The Yakima Herald-Republic typically does not name the alleged victims of sex crimes.

The older student, then 16, said he decided to meet her in response to a text exchange, even though he was having a good day with his girlfriend and wondered whether it was right to get together with his teacher.

''I knew pretty much what was going to happen," he said.

Despite his reluctance, "Something else took over that made me want to say yes -- the 16-year-old boy that I was," he said in response to direct examination by deputy prosecutor Sam Chen.

He said he was not able to recall the date of the encounter, but he remembered locking his car door before getting in the truck. She arrived a few minutes after he called to let her know he was at the Kmart, he said.

The teen said he commented that the truck's dome light seemed to stay on longer than usual, but Taylor said that was normal.

She then asked, "Are we going to do this right here?" according to the boy's testimony. He said he suggested it would be more private behind the store, and Taylor drove up next to the building in the rear.

''We made small talk for all of about two seconds, and then she was grabbing me and going in the back seat," the boy said.

He said he could not recall what Taylor wore.

''Clothes?" he said, drawing laughter from some in the courtroom. He later added that Taylor had on "nice clothes."

With him on top, they made out before she undressed them both. They then changed positions, and Taylor kept up the kissing, according to his testimony.

After she gave him oral sex, he testified, he pushed her up and questioned whether they should continue, because he was feeling guilty.

She was reluctant to stop and rejected his request to get a condom, saying they wouldn't need one as long as he didn't have any sexually transmitted diseases, he said.

''I just kind of laid there," as Taylor initiated the sexual contact, he said.

Afterward, the teen testified, both of them put their clothes on and Taylor drove back to the front of the store. He then left for home, he said.

Once there, he took a shower because he "felt dirty," adding that he was "extremely guilty" over having sex with a woman other than his girlfriend.

''I just kind of sat down and cried in the shower," he said.

Taylor later sent him a text message describing the sex as "good," he said.

He said he subsequently asked her to break off contact, expressing relief that he would be able to stop leading a "double life." However, he highlighted a later text in which Taylor allegedly asked if he wanted to come over while her husband and the couple's young triplets went on a camping trip. He said he declined that offer.

The boy spent his early testimony describing how their relationship started with an unexpected text from Taylor about why he was skipping class and progressed to a kiss between them at her office.

The teen testified for a little more than three hours Tuesday.

Defense attorney Ulvar Klein had just started his cross-examination when the jury was excused for the day, but the attorney's questions focused on early statements the 17-year-old made to his mother, his girlfriend and sheriff's Detective Brian Jackson, the lead investigator.

The boy said those statements were untrue, including a denial to his mother and Jackson that he had had sex with Taylor and a claim to his girlfriend that he "begged" Taylor to stop.

''I wouldn't consider it begging, but there's a difference when I'm talking to a detective and when I'm talking to my girlfriend ...," he said.

The boy said he hoped that the version of events he told his girlfriend would keep her from breaking up with him. They are no longer together.

He said he decided to tell Jackson the truth because he thought investigators would be able to recover phone calls and text messages and because he was concerned that Taylor would target another student.

When Klein asked about an initial statement from the boy that he intended to go to Kmart only to tell Taylor he did not want to have sex, the boy said, "It's hard to keep your intentions and what you actually do straight."

Klein told the jury in opening statements that Taylor never had sex with the teen. The defense contends that while the text messages Taylor sent may have been flirtatious, they were never intended to lead to sexual contact with either boy.

The investigation started with a report to school officials from the younger boy.

The trial is set to reopen this morning with testimony from Jackson and sheriff's Sgt. Bob Udell, who has experience in handling sexual assault cases.

On Tuesday morning, Judge Michael McCarthy directed Kevin Taylor, Michele's husband, to stand farther down the courthouse hallway after Chen raised concerns that he was staring at the student witnesses as they walked to McCarthy's courtroom. Chen said Jackson described Taylor as "mad-dogging," a term more commonly associated with a staredown between gang rivals.

Klein said he had no reason to believe Kevin Taylor's actions were inappropriate.

Kevin Taylor, who on Monday wore a black t-shirt that said "I love my wife" in white lettering, is expected to be the first defense witness. Like his wife, Kevin Taylor is an East Valley physical education teacher and sports coach.

Wednesday opened with testimony from a records custodian from the Sprint Nextel phone company, and an AT&T representative testified later in the day.

Both confirmed that their current networks do not store text messages. Sprint did store messages when the allegations surfaced, but only for up to 14 days.

Investigators apparently were able to recover some messages from the 17-year-old's phone, but their content has not been discussed in front of the jury.

--Mark Morey can be reached at 509-577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.

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