SOUTH PARIS – A former physical education teacher at Leavitt Area High School pleaded guilty Monday to sexually touching a 14-year-old female student, according to court documents.
Steven MacLean, 50, of Turner, has not taught at the school since being charged on Sept. 15, 2004, with the misdemeanor crime, according to Assistant District Attorney Joseph O’Connor, who prosecuted the case.
MacLean entered the guilty plea in Oxford County Superior Court. Justice Ellen Gorman sentenced him to 90 days in jail, with all time suspended, and placed him on administrative release, a form of probation, for one year.
As part of the agreement, MacLean must not contact the victim or her family.
O’Connor said the girl’s parents approved the plea deal to avoid a trial that would have forced their daughter to relive the experience.
MacLean did not return a phone message Thursday, nor did his attorney, Leonard Sharon of Auburn.
O’Connor said the sexual conduct occurred during two months in Hartford, at a private camp that did not belong to either MacLean or the victim.
The girl eventually disclosed the relationship when “things started to get out of hand,” O’Connor said.
Leavitt High School Principal Patrick Hartnett said the gym teacher resigned last year, but would not comment on the specific date, or under what circumstances.
Rose Mary Muir, a legal consultant with the certification office at the Maine Department of Education, said the state would likely begin an independent investigation within two weeks.
Criminal convictions against educators typically result in their losing teaching licenses, she said.
She did not have any details on the case, but said MacLean, who has been a certified teacher for 28 years, had been fingerprinted in the last five years in accordance with the law requiring all Maine teachers undergo background checks.
O’Connor said MacLean had no record of previous offenses.
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