A former Battle Ground High School teacher was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison for trying to meet with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl for a sexual encounter in Albany, Ore.
Kevin Weeks, 57, pleaded guilty in August in Linn County, Ore., Circuit Court to first-degree online sexual corruption of a child. The sentence also requires Weeks to register as a sex offender, court records show.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Albany police officers responded April 20 to reports of a sex offense at Bowman Park, which is just off Interstate 5 along the Willamette River.
The caller said he was a part of a citizen group that investigates possible online predators. He said he has an account on the dating app Tinder, where he poses as a 14-year-old girl, according to court records. He said he exchanged messages, posing as the girl, with Weeks on the app before they began texting.
The man showed officers messages he had exchanged with Weeks. The messages included in the probable cause affidavit show sexually explicit conversations and the man, posing as the girl, telling Weeks she is 14 years old.
The messages also include arrangements for a meetup April 20 in Albany. Weeks sent updates of his drive south to Albany, including passing through Salem, Ore., according to the affidavit.
When officers responded to Bowman Park, they stopped Weeks in his truck. Officers said Weeks admitted that he was at the park to meet a 14-year-old girl and engage in sexual contact.
When officers seized Weeks’ phone, it was still displaying directions to Bowman Park, the affidavit said.
Police arrested Weeks and booked him for online sexual corruption of a child, court records state.
Battle Ground Public Schools had placed Weeks on administrative leave following his arrest. The district said Weeks was no longer an employee as of Sept. 16.
“Student and staff safety continue to be a top priority in Battle Ground Public Schools,” spokesperson Amanda Richter said in an email.
Weeks had been a business and marketing teacher at Battle Ground High School and had worked in the district since 2002.
