Churchill students alleged abuse victims.
Byline: Rebecca Nolan The Register-GuardA former Churchill High School teacher charged with sexually abusing students he met on the job waived extradition Monday during a court appearance in Washington.
Curtis Neal Buell, 25, was arrested Friday at his new job in Camas, Wash., hours after Eugene police issued a warrant for his arrest.
By waiving extradition, Buell agreed to be transported back to Lane County within the next 10 days to await trial.
He is charged with 18 counts of sexual abuse involving more than one girl he met at the Eugene school, Eugene police Detective Ted Williams said.
The girls were younger than 18 at the time of the alleged abuse, and all are current or former Churchill students, Williams said. The alleged abuse occurred during the 2005 and 2006 school years, he said.
"One of the victims came forward and described what exactly had happened," Williams said. "From there, the investigation went back in time and looked at not only computer records, but cell phone records."
Police also interviewed students about any inappropriate contact they may have witnessed or experienced with Buell, Williams said.
Buell was placed on paid administrative leave Oct. 11 when Eugene detectives began their investigation. He resigned from his job as chemistry teacher, effective Jan. 31.
He had worked at Churchill for three years. He previously had spent a year at North Eugene High School and several months at Madison Middle School as a student teacher. Detectives found no allegations of misconduct at either of those schools, Williams said.
The case, including testimony from the alleged victims, was presented to a grand jury last week, which ultimately put forward the 18-count indictment alleging sexual abuse in varying degrees, the detective said.
The indictment includes a single count of first-degree sexual abuse, a Measure 11 crime that carries a mandatory 75-month sentence. Factors that determine the degree of the charge include the age of the victim, the extent of the contact, and whether or not force was used, he said.
Police knew that Buell had moved to Camas and was working at a cabinet shop, Williams said. That's where Camas police found him Friday evening.
Buell, who also taught drama and coached club volleyball at the school, was popular with students.
In a profile on a MySpace social networking Web page that Buell maintained until last fall, he described himself as "crazy, unreal, revolutionary, terrific, influential and sexy." He wrote that he graduated from North Bend High School in 1999, and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Oregon.
As of September, people - many of whom appeared to be high school students - had posted more than 230 comments on the Web page. One boy wrote to ask if he could stash his guitar in Buell's office the next day. A girl wrote to say that Buell's class was "awesome." Most of the comments are informal, and many are overtly flirtatious.
Williams said detectives had viewed the Web site before it was taken down. He called it "shocking."
"One thing that kept hitting me out of this, as a parent, is that these parents need to monitor what their kids are doing online," the detective said. He also encouraged parents to pay attention to their teens' cell phone and text-messaging habits.
Williams said the investigation will continue, and detectives have not ruled out the possibility of other victims. He encouraged anyone with information related to the case to call him at 682-5175.
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| Title Annotation: | Crime; Curtis Neal Buell faces 18 counts of sexually abusing high school girls |
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| Publication: | The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) |
| Date: | Mar 20, 2007 |
| Words: | 579 |
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