Ex-newspaper editor sentenced for sex abuse
By Associated PressSALEM, Ore. (AP) — A former newspaper editor has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for sexually abusing a teenage girl he met while teaching at a private school in Salem almost a decade ago.
Andrew Scot Bolsinger, 42, made a brief apology Tuesday before he was escorted from the courtroom to the Marion County Jail. He didn't look at his wife or crying children on the way out. Marion County Judge Joseph Guimond criticized Bolsinger for a "violation of trust." Bolsinger had sex with the girl, who was 16 at the time, in 2000. The age of consent in Oregon is 18. She later followed Bolsinger to Virginia, where he resumed his journalism career. In 2003, he returned to Oregon and became editor of the Ashland Daily Tidings. He was fired following his February 2008 indictment. "I think you preyed on a young woman who at the time didn't have a lot of self-confidence," Guimond said. "The pain that's occurred here is immense." The victim, now 26, testified at the sentencing that Bolsinger "misused his position of trust in a Christian academy for his own pleasure." "I looked up to Mr. Bolsinger as a teacher and mentor," the victim read from a prepared statement. "Instead, Mr. Bolsinger abused his position and status as a teacher to inflict pain that will stay with me the rest of my life." Assistant District Attorney Jodie Bureta criticized Bolsinger for creating an "alter-ego" for himself while living in San Francisco after the arrest. Bolsinger, who pleaded guilty April 15, adopted the name Scott Sabatini while writing about politics and sports for online publications and in social networking Web sites, using a picture that showed only the back of his head. Daily Tidings online editor Mike Green was the only person to address the judge on Bolsinger's behalf. "I love Scot, not just because of what he's done professionally for me, but what he's done as a person," Green said. Ashland police also are investigating Bolsinger and his wife, Lori Bolsinger, on possible theft and fraud charges stemming from a string of failed downtown businesses. The financial case remains under review by Jackson County District Attorney Mark Huddleston. (Copyright 2009 The Associated Press)
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