Honestly, we thought we couldn't be surprised anymore.
Sentenced (sorta) to 18 months probation and community service.
May 2, 2007 - Elizabeth Logan, 41, a first-grade teacher at Jackson Elementary has been indicted on theft by receiving and a computer crime, both felonies. She tried to sell a student's winter coat on eBay.
Police got involved in the case in January after a Jackson Elementary mother reported finding her daughter's winter coat on eBay.The girl's coat had turned up missing at school, so the mom turned to the online auction site to replace it.
The mom, who police did not identify, found the same coat on the online auction. She noticed that the seller and another bidder were also from Hillsboro.
Skinner said Logan denies stealing the coat. She said she got it from lost-and-found. Skinner said cops concluded the child's coat was never in lost-and-found.
A poster at the news site was incredulous. "Someone who is combing the goodwill stores AND making 70,000$'s, and who will STEAL THE COAT OFF A CHILD'S BACK, has some major problems. There must be much more to this story?
NOT GUILTY PLEA May 4 - Logan pleaded not guilty.
May 5 - Pre-trial hearing scheduled for June 4.
May 8 - Logan wrote out three different versions of how she got the coat, including buying it at Goodwill, and taking it out of the lost and found. Police later found an e-mail from Logan to another teacher saying her dog had torn up the coat, and she needed her to win the auction. The teacher friend cast a winning bid of $46, beating out the girl's mother.
RESIGNED May 9 - Logan resigned.
May 15 - Police are investigating three more missing coats. The history on Logan's now-closed eBay account, logan6921, shows she has sold dozens of items of clothing over the last year, including a number of winter coats.
CONFESSION RULED ADMISSIBLE Oct 31 - A judge ruled that Logan's confession to police can be used in her theft trial.
Judge Marco A. Hernandez ruled that Logan's statements to police were voluntary, made knowingly and intelligently. He added that he did not believe Logan's testimony that she was coerced into confessing.But this is the best part,
"The defendant's version of the events is simply not credible," Hernandez said at the end of a two-day hearing on defense motions to suppress her statements.
Logan testified today that Hillsboro police Detective Kari Skinner threatened to arrest her and parade her in handcuffs past her first-grade students if she did not "tell her what she wanted to hear."CONVICTED Nov 8 - A jury today convicted Logan on on charges of attempted first-degree theft, computer crime and third-degree theft. She will be sentenced Nov 20.
Logan said she "felt mentally raped" by Skinner and "mortified" that her students were able to see into the office while she was talking to police. She said she was coerced into confessing when actually the coat she was selling was not the girl's but one she bought at Goodwill.
Private defense attorney Des Connall said Logan "had an out-of-body" experience during what he termed an "interrogation." Logan said she continues to have flashbacks because she was terrorized by police, takes two anti-depressants and goes to therapy weekly.
Skinner and principal Janis Hill each testified that Hill completely closed the blinds on her office window so no students could see in. Skinner and Hill also testified that the police interview lasted about 45 minutes, while Logan said the detective badgered and yelled at her for two hours and 47 minutes.
STILL MAINTAINING HER INNOCENCE Nov 14 - Logan had an interview with Newschannel 8, accompanied by her attorney.
Logan was placed on leave shortly after she was charged last winter. She resigned in the spring, she said, on the advice of an attorney for the teacher’s union, a decision she regrets.TT - Or stupid.
“I miss teaching,” she said. “Maybe I should have fought harder to stay.”
The combination of no job, a husband who’s taken time off work because of the case and mounting legal bills has forced Logan and her family to rely on relatives for financial help.
She still has her teaching license, but she could lose it. After the criminal proceedings are over, the Oregon Teachers Standards and Practices Commission will consider revoking it. Even if she keeps her teaching license, Logan said, it will be a tough road.
“If you Google my name, it doesn’t look good,” she said. “You’d have to be pretty brave to hire me.”
SENTENCED Nov 20 - For the felony of computer crime, Logan was sentenced to 18 hours probation. The judge also ordered Logan to serve 150 hours of community service, pay about $1,000 in fines and refrain from using online auction sites such as eBay.
The judge lectured her.
"That's how a child might behave, not an adult with a master's degree and 20 years experience," Hernandez said. "The disappointing part of all this is you are a teacher - we expect more of you."He could have given her up to 30 days.
However, Hernandez said the community would not be served by sending Logan to jail. The most she could have been sentenced to was 30 days.
TT - What message does that send to a school full of students about crime doesn't pay? She stole from students, got paid time off after her arrest and it's very unlikely she will lose her license. And on top of that, the judge inflicts her on the community for 150 hours.
