Judge nixes deal in teacher sex case

The plea bargain may be falling apart for a Gorman High School teacher who pleaded guilty to having sexual relations with a student.

The deal dictated that Jack David Patton, 28, receive probation, but District Judge Lee Gates Tuesday said he was not willing to go along with the negotiated end to the case. That would mean the defendant could withdraw his guilty plea and the case would go back to a justice of the peace for a preliminary hearing.

Before that will occur, there will be a hearing on July 2 to give attorneys a chance to argue their positions, victims and other witnesses a chance to speak and Patton a chance to reconsider the plea bargain.

Patton's attorney Bill Terry said one of the apparent sticking points is the state parole and probation department recommendation that the defendant be sentenced to prison time.

Terry contended the prison time was being sought in a politically motivated "set an example scenario" rather than on the facts of the case.

He said he plans to subpoena the parole and probation officer who authored the report to determine why she made such a recommendation.

Patton pleaded guilty under a new law that makes it a crime to have sexual relations with a student. The single felony count names two victims.

The crime carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, but Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon said at the time of the plea bargain that he is not opposing probation if Patton submits to a psychiatric report and gets a favorable recommendation. That was accomplished, Herndon said Tuesday.

Herndon has said that one of his goals in the case was to reach a resolution without forcing the students to testify in court.

Patton originally was charged with 13 counts of sexual misconduct involving two female students in homes in Henderson and Boulder City.

Patton resigned his job at the Catholic high school several days after a police investigation into the allegations began.

The law making sexual contact between teachers and students a felony crime went into effect Oct. 1.

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