15 years imposed on former teacher

GOLDEN — A former Montrose music teacher is bound for prison after being convicted in Jefferson County of sexual assault.

William Robert Eisenman, 33, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison Tuesday for assaulting a 16-year-old student of his at Evergreen High School last year.

He was convicted at trial in June of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust-pattern, a class-3 felony, and providing alcohol to a minor, a class-1 misdemeanor.

"We send our children to school to be safe," Judge Tamara Russell said at sentencing. "You were there to protect your students and you preyed on them."

Russell's remarks were contained in a press release furnished by the office of the First Judicial District Attorney, which prosecuted Eisenman.

According to published reports, Eisenman apologized for his conduct.

The First Judicial DA said Eisenman was teaching band and orchestra at Evergreen High in 2007, when a teenage girl asked him for advice about boys.

"Eisenman had developed friendly relationships with many of the students and often acted as their confidante. Many students considered him their friend as well as their teacher," the press release stated.

"Eisenman suggested that she dress and act more provocatively to attract boys. He also offered to let her model clothing for him and help her change her image."

They had sex for the first time in a hotel room to which Eisenmen drove the girl so that she could model the clothing for him. Prosecutors said the conduct continued over the next two months, during which Eisenman sexually assaulted the girl at the school, in his car, hotels and his home. He's said to have invited a friend to the hotel for "a threesome."

Prosecutors said they showed at trial how Eisenman had groomed the teen by starting out as a "good listener and friend."

He then told the girl he would die within a few years of an incurable heart condition, but wasn't able to confide in his wife. He also asked the teen victim to take care of his wife after he died, the news release stated.

Eisenman formerly taught music at Columbine Middle School in Montrose and was involved with the community band.

He worked for the school district for three years and resigned when his contract expired. The Montrose Police said in a previous Daily Press report the agency had investigated Eisenman in 2005, but reports of improper behavior were unfounded. There was insufficient evidence to support charges, the police department said.