Jeff Patterson, the teacher accused in student sex scandal, had
conversations with 17-year-old
Morgan Hill – Police were listening during three telephone calls made last November to Hollister resident Jeff Patterson by the 17-year-old female high school student who accused him of having a sexual encounter with her less than a day earlier, according to court records obtained by the Dispatch Friday.
All calls were made with the assistance of Morgan Hill police Cpl. Shane Palsgrove at police headquarters. Two were placed the evening of Nov. 8 and the second in the early morning hours of Nov. 9.
That same morning, the alleged victim delivered three shirts, one sweatshirt, one bra and one scarf which she said had worn on Nov. 4 – the date of the alleged encounter – and had not yet washed. The clothes were later logged into evidence, according to the documents.
Jeff J. Patterson, 31, of Hollister, was arrested Monday on suspicion of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and felony unlawful oral copulation with a minor. He has not yet been charged. The former football coach and math teacher will be arraigned on those charges May 23. He is free on $10,000 bail. If found guilty, Patterson could serve a maximum of three years in jail and register as a sex offender. His teaching credential also will be revoked.
The student told her father – and later told police in several interviews – that Patterson “urged” her to forge a note so she could leave the campus after fifth period. She said she forged the note and left campus during sixth period, Patterson’s prep period, and walked down Burnett Avenue, where, she said, Patterson picked her up in his car. He allegedly drove her to the UPS store, then to a parking lot at Hale and Tilton avenues, where they had a sexual encounter and she performed oral sex on him, she told the investigator.
The transcripts of the phone calls placed from the MHPD by the student reveal Patterson understood what the student was talking about when she said she wanted to talk to him about “what happened.”
Patterson’s attorney, Larry Biegel, said neither he nor Patterson would comment on the phone conversations.
“I haven’t seen that yet,” he said Friday, referring to the transcripts of the conversations. “If you’ve seen that, you’ve seen more than I have.”
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Steve Fein will prosecute the case.
Early this year, district officials hired Dan Brown, the Wilcox High School defensive coordinator, to replace Patterson.
In a letter to the MHPD contained in Patterson’s file, Biegel asks that Patterson’s background – that he has no history of any criminal behavior – be mentioned to the judge making the bail assessment, including the fact that Patterson has lived his whole life in Santa Clara County and has family ties in the area.
Copies of interviews conducted by the Morgan Hill Police and contained in Patterson’s court file show the student described herself to police as “sexually active.” Police also interviewed numerous students who knew the alleged victim and staff members.
Patterson’s car was impounded after the incident, and photos were taken of the interior. Samples also were taken from the vehicle and were sent to the Santa Clara County Crime Lab for testing. Also, DNA samples were taken from the girl and many interviews were conducted with students and staff members. The information gathered from those interviews and the evidence led police to issue the warrant for his arrest. The DA’s office was awaiting results from the crime lab and was asking the police department to conduct additional interviews during the five-month investigation.
Since the event was reported to Morgan Hill Police Nov. 8, Patterson had been on paid administrative leave.
Morgan Hill Unified School District personnel could not comment, specifically, on Patterson’s case, but Assistant Superintendent Stan Rose said the district follows California Education Code in dealing with employees charged with felonies.
“It’s very specific and follows the penal code,” Rose said. “Certain penal code violations are cited as causes for dismissal of permanent employees.”
If an employee is put on paid leave, Rose said, the employee must post a bond for the money, and if the employee is convicted of a felony, the money must be returned.
Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers staff representative Jeanie Wallace said Friday that the union also could not speak specifically to Patterson’s situation, but can comment generally. She said a teacher with one year of experience makes roughly $40,000 per year. But Patterson taught at Gilroy High and Gonzales High School. He has taught for more than three years so his salary might be higher.
Wallace said when a teacher is accused of something, be it misconduct or criminal behavior, the union offers support.
“Our role is to make sure that the teacher receives due process,” she said. “We are not there to protect criminal behavior, just to make sure there is fair representation, to make sure they have an opportunity to contact an attorney if they need to or to have a union representative there. We will be there with teachers to advise them, to listen to them, what the concerns are, what the accusations are, help them understand what they could be facing.”
Transcript of Recorded Phone Call
The following is the third pretext phone called placed by alleged victim from the MHPD to Patterson in his Sobrato High classroom at 7:25am on Nov. 9:
Patterson: “Hello, Patterson.”
Girl: “Jeff?”
Patterson: “Uh huh.”
Girl: “I need to talk to you.”
Patterson: “OK.”
Girl: “Are you mad at me?”
Patterson: “No.”
Girl: “Yes you are.”
Patterson: “No.”
Girl: “You’re the only one I can talk to.”
Patterson: “I know, I can’t talk right now.”
Girl: “I need to talk to you right now, real fast, Jeff, please, they want me to go to the police.”
Patterson: “Who?”
Girl: “My parents and the school and I don’t know what to say to the police.”
Patterson: “OK.”
Girl: “What do I do if they ask me questions?”
Patterson: “Nothing happened.”
Girl: “I have to tell them that?”
Patterson: “Yup.”
Girl: “What do I do if they ask me what happened in the car? I went down on you. What do I tell them?”
Patterson: “Nothing happened.”
Girl: “I tell them that? But something did happen, though.”
Patterson: “Listen, I’m going to be having a conversation with the vice principal today.”
Girl: “Yeah.”
Patterson: “And in that conversation ask if I can speak with your father.”
Girl: “OK.”
Patterson: “OK.”
Girl: “Jeff, what do I tell them, though?”
Patterson: “Everybody knows what’s going on.”
Girl: “But stuff happened, though.”
Patterson: “I know, I got, I gotta go.”
Girl: “But when can I see you next?”
Patterson: “That this.”
Girl: “You don’t love me anymore.”
Patterson: “I can’t talk right now.”
Girl: “Yes, you can. You just don’t want to. You don’t like me anymore.”
Patterson: “OK. I gotta go. Bye, bye.”
Girl: “No, Jeff.”
Patterson: “But bye.”
Girl: “No, don’t hang up on me.”
