Another Utah Teacher Walks in Sex Case

(Tooele, Utah) District Judge Mark Kouris, the same judge who sentenced teacher Cameo Patch to probation for sexual battery and then blamed the student, has now sentenced another teacher, 42-year-old Leslie Baird, to probation for forcible sex abuse of a male student. Baird actually admitted to engaging in sex with two male students, 17 and 18 years old.

Baird was originally charged with counts of first-degree forcible sodomy and second-degree forcible sex abuse. A plea deal eliminated the felony counts of forcible sodomy plus misdemeanor counts of dealing harmful material to a minor and giving alcohol to a minor. She ultimately pleaded guilty to the remaining charge of second-degree forcible sex abuse.

As a reminder, Baird was a Tooele High School teacher who liquored up male students and had sex with them. She was only exposed because it became common knowledge at the school.

In January, District Judge Mark Kouris sent Baird to have a 90-day head examination. Based upon confirmation that Baird is in fact a female, Kouris imposed probation.

To be fair, it appears that Kouris probably did not base his ruling entirely on the fact that the defendant is female. There's an obvious whiff of politics involved since Baird's daddy is the mayor of the neighboring Tooele County community of Grantsville.

In summary, recent rulings by Judge Kouris let two female teachers convicted of sex crimes walk away with probation. Regarding Cameo Patch, Kouris told her he "would be inclined to order some incarceration" if she were a man. With Baird, Kouris simply said she was "getting quite a deal" since she faced a possible 15 years in prison.

Jeez, it would seem logical for all those adult women with sexual proclivities toward schoolboys to immediately pack up the car and hit the road for Tooele County, Utah.


[Update 06/20/07]

Hold the phone. Apparently, Baird was actually sentenced to one-year in jail. She was then released early.