PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Portland Community College driving instructor, accused by nearly two dozen girls or women of sexually abusing them during lessons, was sentenced Feb. 20 to six months in jail, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office said.
Paul Douglas Burdick, 48, pleaded guilty to six counts of misdemeanor third-degree sex abuse in January, court records show. He had faced another 15 counts of sex abuse, which prosecutors later dismissed, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
Burdick was accused of groping driving students during practice or test drives and would instruct some of the young women to perform jumping jacks to record them on his cellphone, authorities said.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said the abuse occurred between 2012 and 2018 while Burdick taught driving courses at the school’s Willow Creek Center in Hillsboro. Portland Community College fired him in April 2019 amid the criminal investigation.
Burdick also served as a bishop at the Hillsboro Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has removed him from the post.
Three of the students have filed a lawsuit against Burdick, seeking $2 million each.