EL PASO COUNTY — Court documents detail an El Paso County man with a history of working with children who faced multiple sex abuse charges over the past three decades. In two different jury trials, Robert Gordon was found not guilty on charges of abuse.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office arrested the 58-year-old in early April after deputies received a report regarding a sexual assault on a child. According to the arrest affidavit, Gordon allegedly had a sexual relationship and exchanged inappropriate text messages with a young boy. The alleged 14-year-old victim told deputies he was 11 years old when the abuse started.
The sheriff's office said Gordon reportedly worked as a music teacher for the First United Pentecostal Church in Security. He was also a bus driver for Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8 from 2005 to 2006 and for Widefield School District 3 from 2005 to 2009 and 2010 to 2012.
News5 has obtained court documents for three previous cases involving Gordon. In a 2011 jury trial, he pleaded not guilty to multiple felony child sexual assault charges. The arrest affidavit details Gordon had allegedly sexually abused two different boys while they were staying the night at Gordon's house. Gordon was found not guilty of the charges of abuse.
In 1998 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of Harboring A Runaway Child. Court documents show he served a deferred sentence ending in 1999 and had to complete public service hours.
Gordon was back in court for a 2012 jury trial on sexual abuse charges for allegations dating back to 2001. The victim, in that case, told investigators he was 12 years old when he and Gordon formed a friendship that turned into a sexual relationship. In the arrest affidavit, the alleged victim said he had stayed overnight at Gordon's house multiple times. The alleged victim said their relationship started out by watching pornography together and over time led to sexual activity. Gordon was found not guilty on charges of sexual abuse by a jury in 2012.
Steve Rodemer, an attorney and former Deputy District Attorney for the 4th Judicial District, said all of these cases would have shown up on any background check since petitions by Gordon to seal the cases were denied by the courts.
"If that information is publicly available to a school district or some other entity, that would be surprising that he was able to secure those positions of employment with that type of history," said Rodemer.
District 8 and District 3 both independently sent News5 similar statements saying their districts deny employment to "candidates who have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving unlawful sexual behavior or unlawful behavior involving children."
Rodemer said prosecutors will most likely have a stronger case against Gordon this time around because of text messages as evidence. "I would suspect that he [Gordon] would face much greater challenges in his defense than he did in the previous cases," he said.
During a court hearing Thursday, prosecutors said they learned of at least two more potential victims in the investigation against Gordon. He is currently being held in the El Paso County Jail without bond. The district attorney's office is expected to file formal charges against Gordon before his next court appearance on April 27. A judge will likely set a bond amount during that hearing.
According to the sheriff's office this is an active investigation. Detectives are asking anyone with information to please call their tipline at 719-520-7777.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
