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Former Boyle County teacher Starr wants guilty plea set aside

August 31, 2007|TODD KLEFFMAN

Convicted sex offender and former Boyle County Middle School teacher Mark Starr returned to court Thursday proclaiming his innocence on local charges and asking that his guilty plea be tossed out.

Starr, who is serving a 30-year federal sentence on child pornography charges, contended to Boyle Circuit Judge Darren Peckler that his attorney, former public defender Karen Mead, and Commonwealth's Attorney Richie Bottoms pressured him to quickly accept a plea deal on state charges of using a minor in a sexual performance and tampering with evidence.

"I think this makes it clear that I'm innocent of these charges and the plea agreement was achieved in haste and under much duress," Starr said from the witness stand under questioning from his current attorney, Josephine Layne of the state Office for Public Advocacy.

Layne said Starr is hoping to have his guilty plea set aside and take the case to trial.

Starr pleaded guilty in 2006 to state charges that he videotaped a middle school student while she changed clothes in a room adjacent to his office at the school in 2003 and then tried to destroy the tape before investigators obtained it.

In 2004, Starr pleaded guilty in federal court to 10 charges related to child pornography. He admitted he took pictures of the genitals of four girls between the ages of 6 and 13 while they were sleeping. Three of the girls were children of relatives and were spending the weekend at Starr's house in Danville.

Starr also admitted to downloading to his computer several videos and images of young girls engaging in sexual acts with adults. He was sentenced to 30 years on the federal charges.

After Starr signed the plea deal on state charges, Peckler gave him a 10-year prison sentence to run concurrently to his 30-year federal sentence, meaning he did not have to do any additional time.

Starr's version of events

Starr maintains, however, that Mead led him to believe that if he didn't accept the plea deal and instead took the case to trial, Peckler would convict him and give him additional years that would be tacked on to the end of his federal sentence.

Starr said he asked Bottoms for some time to consider the plea offer, but said the prosecutor told him to accept the plea deal immediately or it would be withdrawn. Starr also said Bottoms suggested he would bring additional charges if Starr did not accept the deal.

Starr also maintains that he professed his innocence to Mead and Bottoms throughout the case, yet they still pressured him to accept the plea bargain.

Mead and Bottoms both denied Starr's version of events.

Mead said that she discussed the case and plea arrangement at length with her client and believed he understood all of its implications.

"If Mr. Starr had said 'I am innocent, but I am going to plead guilty,' I would have said, 'No, if you're saying you're innocent, we're going to trial,'" Mead testified.

Bottoms said, "I believe he was guilty of the charges as indicted and have no reason to believe otherwise now."

Peckler will issue a ruling on Starr's motion at a later date.

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