Gustafson injured in jail altercation; sentencing delayed

The scheduled sentencing of Richard Gustafson on sex abuse and child pornography charges has been postponed indefinitely after he was involved in a jail altercation and received medical treatment, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Lutz would not confirm whether the scheduled 3 p.m. Thursday sentencing was postponed as a result of the injuries, or their extent, nor the details of what took place at the jail. Prosecutors said no new date for the sentencing had been set.

Last Friday, a judge on Friday found the former gymnastics coach guilty on all 11 counts of first-degree sex abuse involving young girls he fondled during overnight sleepovers at the gymnastics academy he founded.

After a week of testimony, including time on the witness stand for several young victims and their parents, Circuit Judge Wells Ashby also convicted Gustafson on 20 of 22 counts of encouraging child sex abuse involving child pornography found on his computers, as well as a single count of cocaine possession.

Gustafson, 49, showed little emotion as the judge announced his verdict. He had waived his right to a jury trial in the case. There were a few gasps and later some tears from parents in the courtroom during the 15-minute court session.

Because the charges are Measure 11 mandatory-minimum crimes, Gustafson was immediately taken into custody. Ashby set his sentencing for Thursday at 3 p.m.

The minimum sentence on each sex abuse conviction is 75 months (over six years), so he could face from 31 to nearly 70 years on those counts alone, depending on if the judge makes some consecutive or concurrent.

Afterward, Gustafson’s attorney, John Kolego, offered this reaction: “Obviously, we are disappointed. Mr. Gustafson will be pursuing an appeal, but we’ll just see how it goes.”

Bend police Sgt. Jason Maniscalco said, “This was a complicated case that took a long time, and our investigators did a great job. I think the prosecution did a great job. They were thorough, and I think in the end, it came out that way.”

During Wednesday’s closing statements, opposing lawyers offered two very different accounts and arguments of what type of man Gustafson is.

Prosecutors say he portrayed himself as a community man who could be trusted. But then he let his true colors show, as a deputy district attorney called him “a man who has a sick, sexualized interest in children, who watches sadistic images of children being sexually abused.”

“And of course the defendant … does not display his perverted ways in front of parents or children or family members,” she continued. “But he has the secret side of him that he hides in safes and buried in his desk and in files in his computer, that he waits until the lights get dim and the children are sleeping and there’s no other adults.”

The defense argued Gustafson has coached thousands of kids, and until these allegations has had an impeccable record. They also say the girls’ stories of what happened the night of the New Year’s Eve sleepover don’t match up.

“Given the number of people that Rich Gustafson has had contact with over the years, we’ve had maybe six people say that something inappropriate happened,” said Gustafson’s attorney, John Kolego. “And if the state’s theory is that he’s a pedophile who is using this gym as a pretext to gratify his sexual desires with children, we have had very little evidence of that.”

The defense also argued there is insufficient evidence to charge Gustafson with cocaine possession, because there’s no way to prove the mirror it was found on is actually Gustafson’s.