Former teacher Tommy Stoutamire gets jail time in plea deal
Mark Skinner/Floridan
Tommy Stoutamire, left, with lawyer John Kenny by his side, pled guilty Tuesday to several charges related to offenses against four of his former students at Sneads High School. Stoutamire was sentenced to nearly one year in jail with 14 years of probation to follow.
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To view the court documents in the Stoutamire case, click here.
Former Sneads High School teacher Tommy Stoutamire pleaded guilty Tuesday to multiple charges related to offenses against four of his female students, accepting a deal that will put him behind bars for just under a year.
Stoutamire pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse, two counts of false imprisonment, one count of battery, and three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation in the case.
To view the court documents in this case, click here.
All the incidents cited in court occurred in 2007, according to court officials. Stoutamire was teaching agriculture at SHS when the case investigation began in May of last year. He also sponsored the school’s FFA and had 25 years of experience as a teacher. He resigned his post shortly after the investigation began.
Stoutamire, who lives in Liberty County, was sentenced to serve 11 months and 29 days in the Liberty County jail. He will be on probation for an additional 14 years under the terms of the plea agreement.
He will be required to give up his teaching certificate/license, and never seek employment in the field again, according to the terms of the plea.
Stoutamire wrote a letter apologizing to the girls as part of the deal.
Although they were named in his letter, which was addressed to prosecutor Heather Lane, only their initials will be used here because they are all juveniles.
“I want to express my sincere apologies to CM, KB, MY and LH,” his letter reads. “Each of these young ladies have suffered this past year in school and in the community and have done nothing to deserve the treatment. I accept responsibility for my actions and for the hurt the actions have caused not only to these four ladies but the Sneads community as well. I urge all involved to allow these girls to attend school in peace and understand they have done nothing wrong. It is with great regret I move forward with my life today. I understand and accept the punishment of the Court and I will work to earn the trust of my family, friends, loved ones yet again.”
He was sentenced as a sex offender, and must comply with a number of requirements related to that status.
David York, the father of one victim, said he had at first wanted to see Stoutamire sent to prison rather than a county jail, but that after more than a year of dealing with the trauma, the family finally decided to accept the plea in order to get on with their lives. Some of the offenses carried possible penalties of up to 15 years in prison.
York said he expects to seek civil relief in the case, both against Stoutamire individually and against the school system.
He and wife Margie, the victim’s mother, have retained lawyer Chris Young to handle their civil cases.
In court Tuesday prior to sentencing, Margie York read from a written statement addressed to Stoutamire.
“It is so hard for me to stand here and be calm after what you did to my daughter,” she said. “There are no words to express what we have suffered this past year because of your actions. You know, this letter of apology you are giving my daughter today could have been written a year ago and even though it would not have taken away what you did, maybe it would have stopped some of the harassment she has had to endure this past school year from not only classmates, but from teachers as well. All because she stood up and told the truth. But when I become overwhelmed by the anger and hurt, I remember that my Lord will always have the last word, he is the Beginning and the End. Even though I do not have the resources to get myself out of this problem, I know He will deliver me. I pray that you can make peace with God for your actions.”
Stoutamire was fingerprinted at the close of the court proceeding and taken into custody immediately. His lawyer had asked Circuit Judge Bill Wright to give his client two weeks to clear up personal matters and undergo a medical procedure before starting his sentence, but Wright declined.
Reader Reactions
My daughter spent many days and trips with Mr. Stoutamire and so did many other students that love and believe in him. He did nothing but love & believe in them…...helping them to succeed in life. He gave them a reason to find the good in Sneads High School when everything seemed bad. I will never believe what was told on him because I know one of the girls told her friends that it was not true. It’s a bad situation for EVERYONE involved. The girls should have family and friends that would support them, even if they changed the story to tell the truth. Everyone knows the stories changed but in the end an innocent man will still serve time, lose everything he’s worked so hard for (helping people for years) and hold a title as a Sexual Predator. Proof he is a good man. For those that do not know him, it will bring him shame but for those that do know him it will not matter. While he is apologizing to everyone, everyone should be apologizing to him.
This is for you Tommy Stoutamire. We love & believe in you. Thank you for all the positive highlights you’ve made in my daughter’s life. For the many livestock judging awards, for learning how to take care of stinking farm animals and love every minute of it….begging to go to the “hog pen” daily, for the countless times she has pointed out a tree and told us what kind it was by observing the leaves, for her thinking so much of you she called you “another father” we thank you. You touched my heart in so many ways through her happiness. Her sadness of what you have gone through breaks my heart. Never doubt the love, teachings, happiness & success you instilled in all of your students. You have a special place in their hearts that no one can ever take away. YOU ARE A GOOD MAN. God bless you and your family forever!
Be not silent, O God of my praise!
For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
They beset me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.
In return for my love they accuse me,
even as I make prayer for them.
So they reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love. {Psalms 109:1-5 RSV}
Dawn Loge
Mother of Melody Cain
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Exodus 20:16)
By the way, keep in touch and let us know when you get out…..we will all get together and go to Sonny’s with you. Keep your head up and smile….YOU ARE LOVED! 
Thank you to the people who are backing me up now! To everyone who keeps saying they told the truth and they’re heroes and blah blah blah… I know for a FACT they didn’t. If it wasn’t wrong to call one of them out, I WOULD. However, I’m better than that. What goes around comes around though…
I wrote a comment yesterday and it is not here. I know the man well, he is a good man, and he would never do the things he was accused of. If you had taken classes in criminal justice, or criminalogy you would be aware taking a plea is not a sign one is guilty. It was that or go to court and hope you could get the girls to recant their lies. He chose the lesser of the two evils. The system is not always right, and that is bad, but I know him, my child attended SHS and several friends had children that took Ag under Tommy and he was their class sponsor also for four years. Never did anyone ever have a problem with him in any way at all. I hate to see an innocent man lose his teaching cert. his reputation and all. There are many SHS students that would gladly testify on his behalf, but this did not happen, it was not allowed. So they take the word of a teenager and ruin a mans life. Not right here folks, everyone has to face the Lord one day, and I hope this family that is so adamant will be able to live with the fact they destroyed a good mans reputation.
These girls should be held as heros! Thing is they aren’t the first, just the first to be brave enough to stand up. Frankly our lovely school board super. should be right there with him in jail. As for the teachers & students that have harassed these girls, you should be ashamed, your judgement is still ahead of you. Hold your heads high girls & know that YOU DID DO THE RIGHT THING, YOUR NOT TO BLAME!
In April of last year, I flew home to stay with my parents while I was pregnant with my daughter. (My husband is in the military.) Since I had been away for a while, I wanted to see a few people that are very important to me. The Friday after I flew in, I had planned to go to the high school to see a few of my old teachers. I never got the chance to go. Days before I was to go, a few girls decided to ruin the life of a man who made Sneads High School bearable for me.
I owe everything I accomplished in school to Mr. Stoutamire. He made me speak, which brought me out of my shell. I won countless competitions because of that. I am able to teach others how to present themselves in front of a crowd, because he taught me. He made me believe in myself. I graduated from Sneads High School in 2005. My education was lacking, I didn’t care for the town, I was ready to get away from people I went to school with. Instead of complaining about it all, I have been trying my hardest to educate myself, so that no child in a rural environment will have a half-*** education. That being a different story. Mr. Stoutamire believed in me, and taught me that I was capable of anything. I look at him like a father figure. My parents took care of my dying aunt my senior year of high school. They were never home, they couldn’t be. We understood, but it didn’t make it any easier on my brothers and me. Mr. Stoutamire knew and was always understanding. I was always so excited to tell him the smallest victory, so he’d be proud of me. He treated me like his own child. He was never afraid to tell me that I was bothering the crap out of him. He would tell me that I wasn’t going any where with him dressed like I was. He tried to whip me once, but I grabbed the ruler and told him that if he hit me, I was going to pop the mess out of him. I learned more from that fat man than anyone else. I don’t know how I would have survived Sneads without him.
Unless God sends an Angel to tell me, I will NEVER believe that the allegations against him are true. I feel like he was put between a rock and a hard place, and did what he needed to for his family. When there are 5 against 1 and no physical evidence, there is no choice. ESPECIALLY IN JACKSON COUNTY. I never felt uncomfortable around him at all. I’ve been alone with him more than anyone in the Class of 2005. I was his teacher’s assistant for two periods my senior year. I traveled all around the country with him. I spent the night at his dad’s. Never once, EVER did he force me into an uncomfortable situation. NEVER. I can not and will not believe that the man I trust and look up to is guilty. His life is ruined now. My heart goes out to Leah, Erin, Tyler, and Ms. Suzann. I can’t imagine the pain they are going through and will go through. I can only pray for them and send them my love.
How can you judge a man you do NOT know? As religious as Mr. Stoutamire and his family are, do you think his wife would stand behind a sexual predator?????? I HAVE a daughter. She could spend the night in the same room as Thomas Stoutamire and I would feel safe. A bad thought would NEVER enter my mind. I am not going to call anyone a liar. I do not know these girls, so it is not my place to judge them. There are always two sides to one story. I shall never know the full extent of both sides, but the man I know would never lay a finger on a young girl in a sexual manner. However, if I had been molested, a comment made by someone with WAY too much time on their hands would never bother me. Even if no one believed me, as long as I told the truth, I could look at myself in the mirror.
I can’t tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. I can’t tell you what to believe. But I can tell you what I am going to do. I am going to visit Ms. Suzann. I am going to write letters. I am going to see my favorite teacher in jail. I plan on displaying my opinion in a very public manner. I am only one person and I can’t change minds of the world.
But I have a voice, and my voice will be heard.
I want to start off by saying thank to Mr.Tommy Stoutamire. Without him I wouldn’t be the person I am today. Mr. Stoutamire taught me so many different things about agriculture. He made learning about forestry fun by making up silly catch phrases to memorize scientifc names. He taught all of us how to feed, train, and show our hogs and steers at the Jackson County Fairs. I got to travel all over Florida with Mr Stoutamire while competing in livestock judging contests. Mr Stoutamire was so good at teaching my team livestock, we made it all the way to the State Competition in Gainesville. My parents were, and continue to this day, always trusting of Stoutamire’s supervision. He never once did anything to disrupt that trust.
I love you Mr. Stoutamire, you are and will always be the best ag teacher. Just remember, one day justice will be served.
—Emily Cain
Okay all you people, I may not use proper grammar here either, but I know the truth when it is under my nose. Tommy would NEVER do the things he was accused of. He is not the type. The four girls need to recant their story and him be freed from jail. They have destroyed his life, his career and his reputation. Asking God to forgive them is not going to help any at all, they have to live with this on their conscious forever and ever. They say what goes around comes around. I understand one of the father’s is having money problems right now, maybe God is telling him something, Huh???? Now = one of the girls parents want to sue him and the school board for more damages. I understand the apple does not fall far from the tree, maybe Mr. York should wonder why his daughter is telling fibs on an honest man like Tommy. I hope he can sleep good at night knowing an innocent man is in jail for doing nothing at all. May God have mercy on your soul for the damage you have done this man.
Okay thanks for your insight I really needed that. Have a nice life.
When you want to see your beloved teacher just pull up the florida sexual offender web site. you can look at his picture for the rest of his life. You have no idea how close I am to the situation and the things that have come to light in this case. If you want to know why he accepted the plea look at what he was facing in years had he not accepted. If a person is truly Innocent they don’t plead guilty and subject their life and family to this, they fight it to clear their name.
Or should I say everyone who knows Stout AS WELL as those girls…
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