Former Sacred Hearts Academy teacher William Plourde must spend a year in jail for sexual assault of a 15-year-old student in the summer of 2013.
State Circuit Judge Glenn Kim sentenced Plourde on Wednesday to five years’ probation for seven counts of third-degree sexual assault. Kim imposed the jail term as a condition of the probation.
Plourde, 55, is getting credit for the one month he has already spent in custody. He pleaded guilty to the charges last December.
Kim also ordered Plourde to repay the state fund for crime victims the $1,090 it spent for the girl’s medical treatment.
Before receiving his sentence Wednesday, Plourde apologized to his former homeroom student, the girl’s parents, the school, the teachers there and to the community.
The girl attended the sentencing hearing accompanied by her parents.
She said the ordeal left her feeling hurt, sad and confused.
"Teachers are not supposed to tell students,‘Don’t tell anybody about this or I’ll get in trouble,’" she said.
The girl said she is stronger now and glad that girls at the school are safe without Plourde around.
The maximum penalty for third-degree sexual assault is five years in prison.
Deputy Prosecutor Kristin Yamamoto asked Kim to sentence Plourde to 10 years. She said Plourde should get five years for four of the charges that stem from his encounter with the girl in his car outside the girl’s home, plus another five years for the remaining three charges that stem from an encounter with the girl at the school.
Plourde has no prior criminal history. His lawyer Myles Breiner said Plourde has already started sex offender treatment and even tried to register as a sex offender.
Kim said if the prosecution wanted Plourde to serve a prison term it should have made it a condition of his plea agreement or pursued the case under its original charges.
An Oahu grand jury had charged Plourde with six counts of third-degree sexual assault and one count of first-degree sexual assault. The penalty for first-degree sexual assault is a mandatory 20-year prison term.
In exchange for his guilty pleas, the prosecutor agreed to reduce the first-degree sexual assault charge to third-degree sexual assault.
Plourde called 911 on Aug. 7, 2013, to turn himself in after the girl’s father showed up at his Date Street apartment. He said the father threatened to throw him off the apartment’s second-floor balcony if he didn’t turn himself in.
Sacred Hearts Academy Head of School Betty White said she fired Plourde earlier in the day after school administrators received and confirmed a claim against him.
