Wednesday, April 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Joseph Peterson, 52, agreed Tuesday to the plea bargain that could result in life imprisonment. Peterson, who faced three sex charges, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault and will be sentenced July 23.
The student, a 1994 graduate, testified previously that Peterson forced her to have sex a couple months before graduation despite her tears and protests. She said the assault was one of several that occurred during a nearly two-year period.
"I just cried and told him I wanted to go home, that I didn't want this to happen anymore," the woman said at Peterson's preliminary hearing in February 1994. "He just smiled. ... I kept telling him it was hurting and I didn't want him to do it."
Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett said he will argue for the maximum penalty at Peterson's sentencing hearing. The charge carries a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of life in prison.
Beckett said the plea bargain prevents the victim and other witnesses, some of whom also claimed they were assaulted by Peterson, from having to testify and saves the county at least $75,000. In addition, Peterson will be required to register as a convicted felon wherever he lives once -- and if -- he is released from prison.
Peterson was suspended with pay after his arrest in November 1994. He was a well-liked business teacher and led five girls' volleyball teams to the state championship in Pahrump, located 60 miles west of Las Vegas.
Peterson has been out on bail since shortly after his arrest. He is married to a 1991 Pahrump Valley High School graduate who had a baby last year.
Nye County Sheriff's deputies have interviewed more than 60 women with similar allegations against Peterson, but no other charges have been filed.
Beckett hopes to use records of those allegations in arguing his case of life imprisonment before Judge John Davis.
At the time of Peterson's arrest, school officials said he would be fired if convicted. School officials admitted they were aware of rumors about Peterson's alleged relationships with students, but said they were unable to do anything until someone came forward.
Terri Miller, a Pahrump mother of four, has been an outspoken critic of the district and has maintained contact with Peterson's victim, who now lives in Florida, and other alleged victims.
"I'm just relieved and happy that the girls won't have to be further traumatized," Miller said Tuesday. "Now that he's pleaded guilty (district officials) are going to have to do their job and dismiss him. I'm looking forward to that and hoping that this will strengthen our case as far as making new laws."
Miller has been campaigning for a change in Nevada's laws, which do not make it a crime for a teacher to have sex with a student. In addition the age of sexual consent is 16, which has made it difficult for the district attorney to prosecute similar cases in which girls have said they were coerced into sex but never actually said "no."
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