Ex-Teacher Sentenced To Jail Term

Thu., Feb. 26, 1998

Associated Press

A former grade school teacher has been sentenced to a suspended prison term and six months in jail for fondling a fourth-grader in 1996.

Walter Monroe Knowles, 58, of Kelso, also must complete sexual deviancy treatment and comply with other conditions to avoid a five-year, eight-month prison, Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Randy Furman said Tuesday.

Knowles’ teaching career ended last year when he admitted fondling the girl under her clothing at Butler Acres Elementary School in October 1996. Previously known for civic activities such as singing in the church choir and helping to organize food drives for the needy, he pleaded guilty last month to first-degree child molestation.

“I violated a very sacred trust, and I am very deeply sorry,” Knowles told the judge. “I do hope and pray that as time goes on … (the victim) will be healed from the crime I committed.”

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