Former Glen Lake band director Elijah George was sentenced to eight months in county jail and five years probation on two charges including use of a computer to commit a crime (a 4-year felony) and surveying an unclothed person (a 0-11 month felony).
Both sentences will be served concurrently.
George, 27, was arrested in February with no prior criminal record to speak of.
“I would like the court to know, and the families that I hurt, that I am truly sorry. I’m remorseful for what I’ve done. I’m in therapy and counseling to ensure that this process goes well ... I am extremely sorry and regretful,” he said. “I will live with this for the rest of my life. The only hope is that I can be forgiven one day.”
The defense and prosecution made no challenges to the scoring of the case.
One of the victims parents spoke at the sentencing and will remain anonymous.
“It’s difficult to explain to my own child how there are people in this world like you who use their position of power to take advantage of unexpecting and trusting individuals, including the most vulnerable in our society: children,” the mother said. “Your students thought they could trust, count on, and depend on you for their safety. Yet without remorse or even a second thought, your sexual entitlement stole the feeling of safety from them ... You knew what you were doing, and you knew it was wrong, which is why you attempted to do it discreetly. That is, until you were caught.”
The father of one of the victims continued: “(Students) should have been nurtured and guided towards a brighter future. They were not. Instead, the students were coerced into believing (George) was a caring adult,” he said. “The breach of boundaries meant to protect our child has left us questioning each interaction and incident ... We are angry and feel betrayed. George’s behavior suggests he was becoming bolder, which could have led to additional harm had a courageous student not stepped forward. He should not be allowed any opportunity to hurt children again. We urge the court to consider the full extent of the harm caused by Mr. George and to impose a sentence that reflects the severity of the crime and ensures the safety of children now into the future.”
The parents did say they were grateful for the response of the Glen Lake administration in handling the situation “We have a very, very serious violation of trust and law in this case. This defendant was involved in the observation through upskirt photos, I think is the best way to put it, including shots involving female students,” the Hon. Kevin Elsenheimer said. “There were also, based on the report, other photos that were taken once the matter was identified.”
The prosecution, led by assistant prosecutor Daniel Short, notes three more counts of surveying an unclothed person were dropped but could have supported far more charges for George.
The defendants lawyer, Jesse Williams, had no argument for George in the essential open and close case.
“The behavior’s horrible. It’s what concerns everyone and what enrages everyone. Mr. George was adopted from Romania at 13 months. His life started out really rough and it shaped who he is today,” Williams said.
According to the defense, George was intoxicated at the time those decisions were made back in January and February. George has since entered therapy after being arrested.
“(George) won’t be able to teach again. And he’ll be on a sex registry… I mean for basically his entire teaching career. What would have been,” Williams said.
The whole situation went out of control for George due to courage of a fellow student, who identified the inappropriate behavior. George was called into the principal’s office in February to have a discussion and began acting in a way that made it appear he was wiping photos off of his phone. He was attempting to cover his tracks to the extent he could, but the reality is that once there’s a digital footprint, it’s there probably forever, according to the judge.
“We expect our teachers to be people that our children can look up to. We give our children to them for long parts of the day, long parts of the year, in the hope that they’ll come home more educated, better people, not that they’ll be victimized. You certainly should never be in a situation in the future where you’re involved in teaching children clear,” Elsenheimer said. “Based on this behavior and based upon the addiction circle that you have that you’re working on, you are in no position to be in a position of authority or to be involved in any kind of authority related to children,” Elsenheimer said.
