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Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

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Camas coach, custodian accused of molestation appears in court

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A Camas High School custodian and assistant softball coach appeared in Clark County Superior Court on Monday on suspicion of inappropriately touching more than a dozen female students.

Robbyn D. Mattson, 58, of Camas is accused of walking through the school’s commons areas as students were moving between class periods and fondling the buttocks of at least 17 female students.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on charges of five counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, eight counts of third-degree child molestation and four counts of fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation. Judge Robert Lewis held him in the Clark County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Mattson has no criminal history, and his family plans to post bail, said attorney Kathryn Thayer, who made a courtesy appearance Monday on his behalf.

Thayer said Mattson’s parents, wife and adult children were present in the courtroom to support him.

Lewis ordered him to have no contact with any of his accusers or with Camas High School.

According to a court affidavit, video surveillance showed Mattson leaving the custodian’s closet during the change in class periods, winding through a crowd of students and then returning to the custodian’s closet.

Some of the footage showed Mattson stayed in the custodian’s closet for an hour, according to the affidavit by Camas police Detective Brie Bieber. Tests are being conducted for the presence of semen in the closet, said Deputy Prosecutor Jessica Barrar.

The Camas School District reported Mattson to police Wednesday after learning about the allegations. Officials immediately placed Mattson on paid administrative leave as police began looking into the accusations.

Court papers indicate that a 15-year-old girl disclosed to her mother on Dec. 16 that the school’s custodian had touched her buttocks.

The girl “thought it was an accident because it was crowded,” Bieber wrote. “However, when she heard it had been happening to a lot of girls, she realized it was probably intentional.”

Assistant Principal Tom Morris interviewed several students and found three female students who said that Mattson also had touched their buttocks.

Morris then reviewed a random selection of surveillance footage and found that Mattson routinely went to the crowded commons area between second and third periods and again between fifth and sixth periods, the detective wrote.

“He observed several incidents where he could clearly see Mattson reach out and touch a female’s buttocks,” she wrote. “Several times, the female would look back, reacting to being touched. On other incidents, the females did not appear to react or notice their buttocks were touched.”

Investigators said Mattson touched 17 female students during school hours in the past month, according to a news release from Camas police. The ages of the students range from 14 to 18.

During an interview with police, Mattson admitted to intentionally touching the girls, Bieber wrote.

“Mattson said he did this for the thrill and getting away with something,” she wrote.

School district spokeswoman Doreen McKercher stressed Robbyn Mattson is not to be confused with Robert T. Mattson, a teacher at Skyridge Middle School.

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