Canfield Teacher Will Stand Trial For Sexual Abuse Judge Decides There Is Enough Evidence Of Molesting Students

Shaking, crying and turning red with embarrassment, five middle-school girls spent Thursday describing how a teacher had molested them.

“He’d put his hands on my shoulders and let them slide down on my breasts,” a 13-year-old girl told a judge as tears spilled down her cheeks.

“When he would hug me so tight, I could feel his private parts in the front.”

Paul Mather, a teacher at Canfield Middle School, has been charged with two counts of sexual abuse of children. On Thursday, Judge Debra Heise decided there is enough evidence against the 49-year-old Coeur d’Alene man to have him stand trial.

It is the third time Mather has been accused of inappropriate conduct with young girls, according to evidence presented in court Thursday. Canfield Principal James Lien testified that he had warned Mather about touching students in 1993.

And although Mather also has been accused of rape, Thursday was the first time the teacher ever has been taken to court for his actions.

Mather adamantly has denied the accusations against him. He has said, through an attorney, that he is merely affectionate and that his actions have been misunderstood.

Mather has taught at Canfield since 1988. He also was head coach of the American Legion’s AA baseball team and head baseball coach at Coeur d’Alene High School.

He currently is on paid suspension.

The Kootenai County prosecutor’s office charged Mather with sexual abuse in July after five Canfield students told school officials he had been touching their breasts and buttocks while giving them hugs and massages.

The girls, 13 and 14 years old, had been Mather’s students and teacher’s aides. They said the improper touching began last spring and usually took place in his classroom when no one else was around.

Thursday, the girls filed one after the other into the courtroom, each detailing similar incidents. Their parents filled the gallery, sitting stone-faced or wiping away tears as their daughters testified.

One 14-year-old girl, who spent the seventh period of her school day as an aide to Mather, told the judge the teacher often would hug her from behind. She said he would slide his hands down to her breasts and tell her, “You’re a great person - I love you.”

Other times, Mather would hug her from the front, moving his hands down to her buttocks, sometimes squeezing or rubbing with his hands or swaying his body back and forth, the girl testified.

Crimson flashed across the cheeks of several girls as they told the judge how Mather would sit with his legs straddled around theirs, his hands or legs rubbing against their thighs.

Still, most of the girls said Mather had been one of their favorite teachers.

“He was a good teacher and he was nice. He was somebody you could trust,” said a 13-year-old who left the courtroom crying in her mother’s arms.

A 14-year-old girl said she didn’t want to tell anyone at first. “I was afraid he would get in a lot of trouble.”

Mather’s attorney, Tim Gresback, noted that the girls aren’t accusing the teacher of touching their bare skin. All of the alleged contact was outside their clothing.

Gresback also said several of the girls testifying Thursday were friends. They appear to have decided Mather’s hugs were inappropriate only after hearing rumors about past accusations against the teacher, the attorney said.

The Coeur d’Alene School District and prosecutor’s office investigated Mather for rape in 1989 after he was accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl, according to Kootenai County sheriff’s reports.

But the investigation ended after the girl and her family decided not to press charges.

Lien, the Canfield principal, said three girls came to him in 1993 to complain about Mather’s touchiness.

“Some girls came with some complaints that Mr. Mather had made them feel creepy,” Lien testified Thursday.

Although Lien said he counseled Mather not to touch students, nothing ever came of the accusations.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT Paul Mather will be arraigned in 1st District Court on Sept. 9.