Teacher Tried On Sexual Abuse Charges

Six young women from the small town of Prospect have testified their former high school history teacher harassed them or touched them in sexual ways at school.

The women, five former students and one current student at Prospect High School, testified Tuesday in the trial of Michael R. Gordon, 42.

Gordon was a teacher and football coach at the 60-student high school on the western slope of the Cascade Range until he was suspended last September. That followed his arrest on nine counts of third-degree sexual abuse and four counts of harassment in incidents dating to the early 1990s.

Defense attorney Ted Morrow of Eugene said Gordon is a caring teacher and extremely physical person who was targeted by an enemy in the community.

The prosecution “has got to prove this touching was for sexual gratification, and there’s no evidence of that at all,” Morrow told the jury.

Three of the women testified Gordon picked them up with one hand on their vaginal area and one on their shoulder.

A current student said Gordon held her aloft that way for three to five minutes in front of a class while she protested.

“I was pretty shocked, because I trusted him very much and I didn’t expect that out of him,” she said.

Another woman, now 21, testified Gordon grabbed her by the hips from behind and pressed his pelvis against her buttocks while they were alone in the teachers’ lounge.