Cole Black

LOCK HAVEN — Cole Gregory Black, 28, a former Keystone Central School District teacher and girls soccer coach, was sentenced in Clinton County Court Monday afternoon, having pleaded guilty earlier this year to sexually assaulting a 17-year-old student.

Clinton County Judge Michael Salisbury admonished Black, calling his conduct “outrageous,” before sentencing him to serve seven months to 24 months less one day in the Clinton County Correctional Facility on the charge of institutional sexual assault, pay a fine of $2,000 plus court costs and remain on probation for two years.

In addition, Black is required to register as a tier two sex offender and required to register every six months for the next 25 years.

Further, Judge Salisbury, whose voice indicated his distaste in this type of crime, told Black he may not have any contact with the victim or her family and must be nowhere near anyone under 18 is employed or any place that involves anyone under 18, like schools and playgrounds.

Black, who sat beside his attorneys throughout the sentencing had a lot of support in the courtroom from friends and family. Four witnesses testified and 49 letters were submitted to the court, describing Black’s character, trustworthiness, strong intellectual mind and remorse for his actions.

Meanwhile, the victim sat in the front row on the other side of the courtroom with the county’s victim witness coordinators and listened to Clinton County District Attorney Dave Strouse and the defendant’s attorney, Robert Donatoni of West Chester, present their cases.

Strouse painted a picture of a predator who gained the girl’s trust, told her over and over again that she was beautiful, and told her boyfriend how lucky he was to have a girlfriend like her. When her prom picture was posted on the bulletin board, he cut the picture of her date off… in full view of the class, Strouse said.

“She grew close to him and shared her personal information with him. The defendant saw an opportunity and kept up the flattery. He asked her out to dinner… have drinks… hang out at his house. This is called ‘grooming,’ and Cole was good at it. This was a scheme orchestrated by Cole Black,” Strouse continued, asking the judge to sentence Black at the top of the standard range. Normally, Strouse said, with no record, the sentence would be 3-12 months for this charge, but the circumstances in this case require more time.

“This type of behavior is absolutely unacceptable,” Strouse said, telling the judge anything less than 12 months in jail minimizes the severity of the crime.

Donatoni suggested that the sexual contact was mutual.

He asked the court to consider the nature and quality of his defendant’s character, which he called excellent, and sentence his client to “what we believe the case is worth — probation.”

He also noted that the guilty plea saved the county time and money by not having to go through a trial.

Black spoke briefly, saying he sincerely regrets what happened.

“I was a teacher, she was a student. I am truly ashamed,” calling his actions unbecoming of his nature. He assured the judge that he would never see him in court again.

And then it was Judge Salisbury’s turn and he didn’t mince his words.

He called the victim’s impact statement very moving and said the last two years have been extremely difficult and she is seeking closure.

“The teacher-student relationship began her sophomore year and she was being ‘groomed’. He kept telling her how beautiful… stunning she was. She was overwhelmed by his flattering comments and started opening up to him. Even after he left her high school (Bucktail), he continued to make comments.

“At the time of the meeting, she was 17 years old. He picked her up at a friends house and took her to his home where they had intercourse. She was completely numb. Her mind was blank. She trusted him. The defendant continued to contact her and told her not to tell anyone or she would be in trouble. She kept silent. It was traumatizing. She became so depressed she considered harming herself,” Salisbury continued.

What was most disturbing, Salisbury said, was that the defendant said that the victim was a willing participant, that she facilitated the action, that she reached out to him, she went to his home and kept a secret.

The judge noted that all 49 letters submitted by Black’s friends and relatives failed to mention anything about the victim and completely ignored the teacher/student relationship that underlies this crime.

“The letters refer to you as a role model who’s done a lot of good. Despite all of that, look at your conduct and the damage to the victim. Nothing you say or do will undo this. It appears to me you have a public persona and a private persona — Dr. Jekyl, Mr. Hyde. Your acts are more fitting to Mr. Hyde,” he continued.

And he didn’t stop there.

The judge told Black his conduct was outrageous… “you were a teacher… the victim was a student. This is not a matter of crossing the line. You went way over that line. You hurt the victim. You hurt the teachers. You hurt the school district. Parents must be able to trust teachers. Your actions make it difficult for parents to do that.

“Why did you do it? You did it for physical gratification. You did it for sex. You need to be punished for your actions. I’m extremely convinced that you groomed the victim and are at risk of repeating and need extensive rehabilitation,” the judge said before passing sentence.