A Camas High School custodian and assistant softball coach pleaded not guilty today to 18 criminal charges connected with accusations that he inappropriately touched 18 female students.
Robbyn Dale Mattson, 58, of Camas, who is free on $10,000 bond, appeared with defense attorney Kathryn Thayer in Clark County Superior Court and entered not guilty pleas to eight counts of third-degree child molestation and 10 counts of second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor.
Mattson’s trial is tentatively scheduled for April 13. His next court hearing is set for March 3 in front of Judge Scott Collier.
At the request of Deputy Prosecutor Patrick Robinson, Collier issued protection orders today for all 18 of Mattson’s accusers. Collier asked Robinson to list the their full names for Mattson because the judge was concerned Mattson might not recognize them by their initials, which are usually used to identify victims in court-ordered protection orders. Mattson also is prohibited from having contact with Camas High School.
Thayer confirmed that her father’s law firm, Steven W. Thayer P.S., had been retained to defend Mattson.
Mattson is accused of walking through the school’s commons area as students were moving between class periods and fondling the buttocks of at least 18 female students.
Mattson has no criminal history.
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.
The Camas School District reported Mattson to police Dec. 17 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,” Camas police Detective Brie 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 other 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 have said the victims in this case were touched during school hours during a one-month period. 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.
Robbyn Mattson is not to be confused with Robert T. Mattson, a teacher at Skyridge Middle School who is unrelated to the defendant.
