Everything points to this man being a pervert, a sexual abuser of children
Blevins' charges
First victimAggravated child molestation — Not guiltyEnticing a child for indecent purposes — GuiltyChild molestation — GuiltyChild molestation — GuiltyChild molestation — GuiltyChild molestation — GuiltyFalse imprisonment — Not guiltySecond victimSexual assault by a teacher — Not guiltyChild molestation — Not guiltyChild molestation — Not guiltyEnticing a child for indecent purposes — Not guiltyFalse imprisonment — Not guilty
RINGGOLD, Ga. - A former Lakeview Middle School band director accused of molesting his students is going to prison.
A Catoosa County jury convicted Thomas Harold Blevins on Friday afternoon on charges of luring and abusing one of two former students who said he molested them. Blevins could go to prison for anywhere from 10-110 years. Superior Court Judge Jon "Bo" Wood will sentence Blevins at a hearing that has not yet been scheduled.
The jury convicted Blevins for his relationship with a former student who said he molested her on Dec. 23, 2010. During the holiday break, she testified, the then-14-year-old showed up to Blevins' band room, expecting other students to be there. Instead, she found only her teacher.
The jury convicted Blevins on four counts of child molestation and one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes. Concerning this relationship, the jury acquitted Blevins on a count of false imprisonment and a count of aggravated child molestation, one of the "Seven Deadly Sins" in Georgia, a charge that would have put Blevins in prison for 25 years to life.
Potential sentences
Enticing a child or indecent purposes: 10-30 yearsChild molestation: 5-20 years on each countSentences can be concurrent or consecutive
"Everything points to this man being a pervert, a sexual abuser of children," Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herbert "Buzz" Franklin told the jury Friday morning during his closing argument. "Don't let this happen in Catoosa County."
"Creepy" teacher
In addition to the accuser, Franklin and Assistant District Attorney Alan Norton called about 10 of Blevins' former female students. Though they weren't the victims in this case, the students testified that their teacher often sent them inappropriate text messages - messages complimenting their tongues, messages telling them he liked to cuddle, messages inviting them to go swimming without a bathing suit.
The prosecution also relied on two pieces of circumstantial evidence: a recorded phone conversation and Blevins' text message history.
According to phone records, Blevins and the accuser texted each other more than 5,000 times between September 2010 and December 2012. He also texted the second accuser 1,884 times from December 2011 to November 2012.
"That's more than he was texting his wife," Franklin said. "Think about that. It's not the boys. It's the little girls."
These text messages are what launched the investigation into Blevins. Around Thanksgiving 2012, a parent complained to Lakeview Middle School authorities that Blevins sent his daughter and his daughter's friend inappropriate messages. Blevins resigned soon after.
When she found out, the accuser told a friend that she had an uncomfortable relationship with Blevins, as well. The friend told a school counselor, and someone at the school called the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office. The accuser then told an investigator at the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit's Children Advocacy Center that Blevins molested her in his classroom's storage room in December 2010.
Soon after, the accuser and Blevins talked on the phone while the Georgia Bureau of Investigation recorded the conversation. The girl told Blevins she was worried about Blevins' resignation, that her mother was getting suspicious, that she didn't want to get dragged into the story.
Blevins told her not to worry, that the allegations against him had nothing to do with her. If asked about him, Blevins told the girl, just say her teacher was a good man.
"I don't want anyone to know what we did," she said. "That was a secret. You told me it was a secret."
"Well," Blevins responded, "nothing happened."
At the end of the conversation, he added: "We did not talk."
Blevins' attorney, Chris Townley, pointed out several times throughout the trial that the accuser never mentioned Blevins molesting her during that phone call. Therefore, Townley said, Blevins never had a chance to push back against those allegations.
Thomas Blevins, a former Lakeview Middle School band teacher accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student, appears before Judge Jon "Bo" Wood during the first day of trial at the Catoosa County Courthouse on August 11, 2015. Concerning the thousands of text messages, Townley built a narrative this week about a teacher who was unorthodox, who acted flirty and goofy because he thought he could encourage his students to learn better that way. In other words, to reach teenagers, Blevins acted like one himself.
"Thomas Blevins sent inappropriate text messages," Townley said. "But not sexual messages."
Townley tried to discredit the first accuser by showing how her story changed from her December 2012 interview to this week's trial. She testified that Townley pulled her to the ground by grabbing her right arm, something she left out in her initial testimony.
She also originally told investigators Blevins made her unzip his pants, Townley pointed out earlier this week. She later said he unzipped his own pants. She also said Blevins pointed to his penis after turning the lights out. Townley argued this was impossible because you can't see when that room is dark.
"You can't even see the person's fingers or hands," Townley said.
Franklin countered, pointing out this accuser was one of several girls to receive special attention from Blevins. He texted them late at night. One girl testified he wouldn't give her a pass to her next class when she was late unless she licked his ear.
"What teacher does that?" Franklin asked. "It's just creepy. Incredibly creepy."
The second accuser
Townley was successful, however, in discrediting the second witness - at least in the jury's eyes. They found Blevins not guilty on five counts concerning his relationship with another former student.
That girl testified this week that Blevins called her into the band room during her sixth-period class, when nobody was around. But Townley worked to poke holes in her statement.
She said he molested her once. Then she said it happened twice. She also said it happened before the band took a trip to Chicago. She also said it happened after that trip.
Townley argued that the girls conspired together to prosecute Blevins. He compared this case to the Salem witch trials.
"Mr. Townley is going on a little witch hunt of his own," Franklin told the jury, arguing that the defense attorney was merely trying to discredit the accusers.
Franklin continued: "It's the people like Mr. Blevins who have a pleasant demeanor and get down with kids on their level - that's the man who you have to be worried about."
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6476.