Accused teacher's fate in jury's hands.

Byline: Rebecca Taylor The Register-Guard

A jury on Tuesday began deliberating the fate of a former Churchill High School chemistry teacher accused of sexually abusing two 17-year-old students.

Curtis Neal Buell, 26, was indicted earlier this year on 18 counts of sexual abuse involving the two girls. During the course of his five-day trial in Lane County Circuit Court, two counts were dropped and a first-degree count that carried a mandatory six-year, three-month prison term was reduced to a lesser charge.

Buell is accused of touching the girls over and under their clothing, having them touch him over his clothing and engaging in more explicit sexual acts. The girls testified that most of the incidents occurred on school property - in Buell's office and in the school auditorium.

Buell's lawyer, Donald Diment of Eugene, told jurors in closing arguments Tuesday that the girls' testimony left plenty of room for reasonable doubt.

The girls, who are acquainted, initially denied any sexual contact, but their stories have evolved over time, Diment said. He said one girl's claim that she had been alone with Buell at least 40 times between late April 2006 and the end of that school year, June 17, was difficult to believe given the number of school days during that period.

"It would have had to have happened every single day and there still wouldn't have been enough school days," he said.

He said the girls' memories of some dates and specific incidents were vague, that the girls continued to visit Buell, their alleged abuser, at his home during the time in question and that Buell was too busy with his job and other duties to have engaged in the behavior alleged.

"At some point you've got to look at this and say, where's all this free time when this is all happening?" Diment said. "You've got to have reasonable doubt because it doesn't make any sense. It doesn't fit."

Deputy Lane County District Attorney Erik Hasselman said the girls may have simply forgotten some of the dates and specific details as memory faded over time. He said most of the alleged acts could be performed in a matter of seconds and did not require much time. He pointed out, as well, that Buell found time to place more than 1,000 phone calls to one girl and several hundred to another at all hours of the day and night, despite his busy schedule.

The prosecution was not arguing that Buell forced the girls to do anything against their will, Hasselman said. Not all of the alleged incidents were unwelcome, he said, suggesting that the girls may have felt flattered by the attentions of an older man.

But, Hasselman said, the girls were under 18 at the time of the alleged abuse, Buell knew their ages, and Oregon law states that minors are incapable of consenting to sexual acts.

The case came to light after one of the girls told her boyfriend a few details and he told his parents. The parents called police and school officials. Buell was placed on paid administrative leave last October and resigned from his job Jan. 31. He had been working at a cabinet shop in Camas, Wash., where he was arrested in March.