ANCHORAGE - Jensen Eugene Seifert entered the courtroom with a hunched posture and his head hanging low, a position that didn't change throughout his sentencing for sexually abusing a teenage boy at the Christian school where Seifert worked.

As Judge Eric Aarseth entered the courtroom Friday, Seifert began to quiver and tears began to roll down his cheeks.

The display at least showed some remorse for his actions.

But that didn't stop the judge from sentencing Seifert to 15 years in prison.

Seifert, a teacher accused of sexually abusing the 13-year-old student at Birchwood Christian School, accepted a plea agreement and the sentence of 15 years, with seven years suspended.

The 25-year-old teacher also worked as a basketball coach and youth mentor at the church and Christian school at the time of his arrest. He was charged with 14 counts of sexually abusing a minor, all felonies, including two counts of sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree and 12 counts of sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree.

Court documents show the boy told his mother in May that Seifert had touched him inappropriately. Police say Seifert used his position as a teacher and coach to gain the student's trust and then took advantage of him.

At the time of his arrest, Seifert admitted to police he had molested the boy multiple times, saying he, "just wanted to fix what he did wrong." In August he changed his not-guilty plea, accepting a deal agreed to by the family of the victim and the prosecutor.

According to the charging documents, Seifert used his role as a teacher and mentor to gain the trust of the victim and then took advantage of that trust.

He also was close with the family of his victim. He was the victim's basketball coach, mentor and chaperone for church youth activities, and a former counselor at the church's camp.

Before Seifert's sentencing, the judge listened to a pre-recorded victim impact statement from the boy's mother that focused on how Seifert not only abused her son, but also the trust the family had placed in him.

"Truly, truly, only God knows the impact of the broken trust upon a 13-year-old young boy, who passionately and whole-heartedly loved his friend and teacher," the mother of the victim said.

Judge Aarseth picked up on the betrayal of trust in his comments, before accepting the plea agreement's sentencing recommendation.

"The theme of broken trust is fitting in my considering the sentence for this crime," Aarseth said. "In most sexual abuse cases the victim knows their assailant, which is true in this case. When a parent entrusts their child to any institution, whether it be a church, school or summer camp there is a huge leap of faith that they will be safe. And to take advantage of that trust is shameful."

Seifert sat quietly, listening to the judge as he wiped away tears, only lifting his head slightly to make a short, tearful statement before sentencing.

"I am so terribly sorry for the devastation that I have caused," he said. "I'm sorry."

In addition to having to serve eight years in jail, Seifert will be on probation for 10 years and he must register as a sex offender for 15 years following his release. Judge Aarseth said the sentencing includes an order for restitution, but the total amount has not been determined.

If Seifert had been sentenced for each of his charged crimes he faced a maximum sentence of 208 years in prison.

"Some people get hung up on the number of years someone is sentenced to for committing a crime," Aarseth said before giving his final ruling. "But the appropriate thing is that the guilty party spend a long enough amount of time in jail to receive the message that what he did was wrong. And, hopefully, that he will never do it again."

Reach the reporter at darrell.breese.@alaskastar.com.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Wednesday, November 25, 2009.