Robert Henry Gordon (El Paso County Sheriff’s Office)
A 58-year-old church music teacher and former Colorado school bus driver has been arrested for sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy.
Robert Henry Gordon was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with one count of sexual assault of a child by a person in a position of trust, sexual assault of a child, unlawful sexual contact and incitement to a child, authorities said.
The arrest took place just days after law enforcement was notified. According to a press release from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, the investigation into Gordon began on April 10. Authorities say the parents of the alleged 14-year-old victim were going through their son’s cellphone when they came across ‘inappropriate text messages’. between their child and the suspect.
The parents immediately contacted the sheriff’s office, who dispatched a patrol deputy to jot down the initial report. This report was passed on to detectives from EPCSO’s Special Victims Unit, who conducted their own investigation into the allegations, including having the alleged victim sit down for a forensic interview regarding his contact with Gordon.
SVU detectives placed Gordon under arrest Thursday morning and transported him to the sheriff’s office, where he was questioned about the allegations. Following the interview, Gordon was taken to the El Paso County Jail on the charges.
Detectives said Gordon is a music teacher at First United Pentecostal Church in Colorado Springs. The press release said Gordon previously worked as a school bus driver and was employed by several different school districts in the El Paso County area.
According to a report from the Gazette, a local news site, Gordon has faced similar charges of child sexual abuse several times in the county, some dating back more than two decades.
While working as a school bus driver in 2001, Gordon was reportedly charged with two counts of forcible sexual assault of a child and one count of sexual assault of a child by a person in a position of trust. The alleged victim in the case claimed Gordon had unlawful sexual contact with him “several” times in 1996, when he was 12 or 13, the Gazette reported.
In 2001, a jury acquitted Gordon on all three counts.
In August 2011, a victim came forward and claimed he was 12 when he met Gordon at a church in Security-Widefield in 2001 and was repeatedly sexually assaulted. Following a year-long investigation into the allegations, prosecutors are said to have charged Gordon with one count of sexual assault of a child with a pattern of sexual abuse and a pattern of sexual assault of a child in a position of trust, as well as six counts of sexual assault of a child by a person in a position of trust with a victim under the age of 15.
According to the Gazette, prosecutors dropped half of the charges against Gordon before his trial, in which a jury acquitted him in 2014 of the remaining four counts.
Gordon is currently being held without bond and is due in court on Friday afternoon.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation into Gordon is still ongoing and urged anyone with relevant information about the case to contact the EPCSO Inquiry Line at 719-520-7777.
It was not immediately clear if Gordon had an attorney who could be reached for comment. First United Pentecostal Church did not immediately respond to a message from Law&Crime regarding Gordon’s work history and the latest allegations he faces.
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