Nursery owner jailed on assault with sexual motivation charge
Saturday, March 22, 2008 6:16 AM PDT
By Amy M.E. Fischer and Stephanie Mathieu
Printable version
E-mail this articleRichard Keith Bacon, artist and owner of All Season Gardens in Kelso, was booked into jail for nine days Thursday after entering an Alford plea on a charge of domestic violence fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation.
An Alford plea means Bacon, 47, did not admit guilt but acknowledged there was enough evidence to convict him.
Bacon is accused of sexually groping a 17-year-old male foreign exchange student on June 2. The student lived with Bacon for the 2006-2007 school year.
Two days after the alleged groping, but prior to his June 20 arrest, Bacon made an agreement with the city of Longview Parks and Recreation Department to lead a youth-enrichment camp from July 23 to July 27 at his EdenArts Center at All Season Gardens.
According to Dick Mueller, Longview Recreation Superintendent, a city staff member drove a group of 10 children, ages 6 through 9, to Bacon's garden center and remained with them during the two-hour art class at 3829 Pleasant Hill Road.
"We did the background check prior to (Bacon) being employed, so it was prior to him being charged," said Rich Bemm, the city's Parks and Recreation director. The department will not contract with Bacon for future classes, Bemm said Friday.
A short police blotter item regarding Bacon's arrest June 20 for an allegation of forcible indecent liberties ran in The Daily News on June 22.
Last July, Bacon angrily defended himself when a reporter asked about the allegations against him. Bacon said the teenager had a bad dream and awoke confused.
"I have been working over 30 years with children, and I've never once before been accused of being indecent, unkind or unfair," he said in a July 31 interview. "I know that I'm going to be proven not guilty."
Bacon's plea bargain to the misdemeanor crime eliminated his initial charge of forcible indecent liberties. He is not required to register as a sex offender, but he is required to take a psycho-sexual evaluation and enter any recommended treatment, according to Deputy Prosecutor Megan Hallin. His initial charge was dropped because the alleged groping took place while the boy was waking up, which could make a jury wonder if the student's recollection of events were as clear as they would be if he were wide awake, Mallin said.
Judge James Stonier sentenced Bacon to a year in jail, with 356 days suspended, meaning Bacon will serve nine days behind bars. The judge also assigned Bacon two years' probation and banned him from working unsupervised with minors, or in social clubs or situations that involve children, such as Boy Scouts.
According to court documents, the teen was sleeping on the couch when he awoke to find Bacon touching his genitals. Bacon said he was trying to wake him up to go to bed, the documents said. The teen told investigators when he went to his bedroom, the lights were off and Bacon was sitting on the bed. Bacon asked if he wanted to go right to bed, and the boy said yes.
Bacon left the bedroom, and the boy collected his passport and belongings, crawled out the bedroom window and reported the incident to his foreign exchange coordinator, the documents said.
Hallin said authorities interviewed the victim before he returned to his home country and kept close contact with him throughout the legal process. The teen was willing to come back to Cowlitz County to testify against Bacon, she said.
"He was good at keeping in contact with us," Hallin said. "He was very well-liked and did well in school."
Before Bacon bought the 6-acre nursery and adjacent 12-acre farm in 2005, the native of upstate New York had an advertising agency in Boston for 11 years, according to Daily News archives. Since moving to Kelso, Bacon has hosted field trips for local schoolchildren visiting the nursery and talked to community organizations about his vision for creating a place for people to creatively reconnect with nature using the arts and gardening.
Bemm said the Parks and Recreation Department began doing 50-state background checks on new employees, volunteers and youth coaches last summer instead of just checking Washington state records. The change was not connected to Bacon's case, he said.
Teresa B wrote on Mar 22, 2008 6:56 AM:
re Teresa B wrote on Mar 22, 2008 9:57 AM:
Gardener wrote on Mar 22, 2008 10:27 AM:
Just Curious wrote on Mar 22, 2008 4:07 PM:
Teresa B wrote on Mar 23, 2008 4:34 AM:
plant shopper wrote on Mar 23, 2008 9:18 AM:
Re plant shopper wrote on Mar 23, 2008 10:07 AM:
concerned wrote on Mar 23, 2008 10:11 AM:
The Nursery......? wrote on Mar 23, 2008 10:26 AM:
Quiet Place wrote on Mar 23, 2008 2:08 PM:
Marketing wrote on Mar 24, 2008 9:18 AM:
All Season fan & long time customer wrote on Mar 24, 2008 8:47 PM:
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