Former teacher gets 20 to life for sex with minors

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004 | 9:20 a.m.

A former substitute teacher for Clark County elementary schools who also volunteered for the Boy Scouts was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for molesting a 12-year-old mentally handicapped relative and the boy's 8-year-old friend.

Robert Stevenson, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault and one count of lewdness with a minor under the age of 14.

Although a Clark County grand jury originally indicted Stevenson on two counts of sexual assault, six counts of lewdness and two counts of attempted sexual assault, all with a minor under 14, District Judge Sally Loehrer determined that the grand jury testimony of one of the victims did not indicate sexual assault.

Loehrer had the option of sentencing Stevenson to concurrent terms at sentencing, which would have given him a chance at parole in 10 years, but sentenced him to consecutive terms to "validate both children's injuries."

"Victims should know each one of the crimes is a concern of the court and each requires a sentence," Loehrer said.

Deputy District Attorney Lisa Luzaich Rego said Stevenson, who also coached youth wrestling and volunteered at his church, "sought out ways to be close to young children" throughout his life in Clark County.

The mother of Stevenson's 8-year-old victim said her son befriended Stevenson's mentally handicapped relative when he joined the Boy Scout troop for which she was den mother. Stevenson subsequently "used my son's friendship as a weapon," she said.

She said when her son was participating in a sleepover with other children at Stevenson's home, Stevenson sexually assaulted her son. She cried as she explained her son now "needs constant assurance that a man will not hurt him again."

She told Loehrer that since the assault her son has problems sleeping, eating and simply "being around adults in social situations."

She asked Loehrer to sentence Stevenson to 20 years to life to prevent him from committing these acts again.

"If my son hadn't had the courage to come forward, he and others would have been sexually assaulted again by him," the mother said.

Stevenson asked Loehrer for mercy, saying he too had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child but hadn't considered it to be abuse at the time. He said he "didn't intend to harm the children, it was simply a way for him to show affection."

In pleading for his sentences to run concurrently, Stevenson told Loehrer he had already "lost a chance at raising my children and lost the respect of my friends and family."

Luzaich Rego said the fact Stevenson was allegedly sexually abused as a child made his crimes even worse because "he knows of the trauma" his victims would experience.

She said Stevenson was essentially an on-call substitute teacher for Clark County elementary schools.

In the past three years 19 Clark County School District employees have been charged with sex-related offenses, including possession of child pornography, molestation and rape allegations.

None of those employees had criminal records at the time they were hired, George Ann Rice, associate superintendent of human resources for the district, has said.

On Dec. 13 Loehrer will address another of the cases as she sentences a former UNLV basketball player accused of having had sex with female students while working as a substitute high school teacher.

Cornelius "Corky" Ausborne, 29, who was a substitute at Grant Sawyer Middle School, has pleaded guilty to one count each of lewdness with a minor under 14 and sexual conduct between a school employee and a pupil.

Ausborne faces a sentence ranging from probation to a maximum of 16 years to life in prison if sentenced to consecutive terms.

In another case involving a teacher accused of sex-related offenses against a student, plea bargain negotiations are continuing between Kenneth Bruce Stacy and prosecutors.

Stacy, a 28-year-old Chaparral High School English teacher, allegedly had sex with a 17-year-old student at his home during the summer. He is facing two counts of sexual misconduct.