Former Abbotsford Teacher Sentenced for Sexual Assault of Two Students
Thursday, July 16th, 2015 -- 12:04 PM
-A former Abbotsford teacher accused of sexually assaulting two of his students was sentenced for the charges against him on Thursday morning.The incident began back in January of 2014, when it was discovered that 26-year-old Andy Follen had an inappropriate relationship with two of his female students, who admitted to engaging in sexual activities with Follen. In May, Follen pleaded guilty to two counts of exposing genitals to a child and 4th degree sexual assault. Two counts of sexual assault of a student by school staff, two counts of bail jumping and one count of intimidating a victim were dismissed and read into the record. Follen is also facing similar charges in Marathon County as it was discovered that some of the meetings between Follen and the students occurred in that county.
During the plea hearing, Clark County District Attorney Lyndsey Boon-Brunette stated that Follen acted with a certain level of self-pity, always trying to make him seem like the victim. She also said that he "groomed the victims" to be in the relationship with him. She continued saying that Follen presents well on paper, but essentially has two sides to him. In the end, she recommended 3 years' probation, with 15 months of conditional jail and to be on the sex offender registry. She also mentioned the effect this has had on the victims involved as they have been ridiculed, bullied and tormented for what happened.
Defense Attorney John Stichert said there were unfair arguments on who Follen is and he takes full responsibility for what happened. He continued saying Follen has no sense of entitlement and it was frequently mentioned in the pre-sentencing investigation that he has a low risk of repeating this offense again. He also said that Follen understands the effect this had on everyone around him. Stichert asked for the probation time recommended in the PSI with no jail time and no sex offender registry.
The victims' families were allowed to speak as were two witnesses on Follen's behalf. The victims' families talked about the horrible treatment of their daughters, agreed he should never teach again and agreed that he has two sides. The witnesses said that Follen is a hard worker and has a future with their company. Follen was given an opportunity to speak and he apologized to the family.
Finally, Judge Jon Counsell said that everything that has been said cannot undo what has been done. In the end he sentenced Follen to 4 years' probation with 7 months of conditional jail time. He is also ordered to have no contact with the family or any woman under the age of 18, he can have no teaching position, no electronic devices or social media and others, but Judge Counsell did order Follen to register as a sex offender.
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