KTRE.com Lufkin and Nacogdoches |Former band instructor who had sex with minor gets probation

Former band instructor who had sex with minor gets probation

Editor's note: A previous version of this story stated Clark Lewing was a teacher with Hudson ISD. Lewing was actually hired by the district as a drum instructor.

LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - A band instructor convicted of having an inappropriate relationship with a minor was granted probation Thursday in an Angelina County District Court.

According to a previous KTRE report, Clark Lewing was arrested in April 2008 for having sex with a then 14-year-old student.

Lewing was contracted by Hudson ISD to help band students on drums, Superintendent Mary Ann Whiteker said. He only worked a few hours a week with the students.

In Thursday's shock probation hearing, the victim's mother took the stand and explained how upset her daughter was that Lewing was in prison. She said it would be of the daughter's benefit if he were not in prison because she blamed herself for his punishment.

The idea behind shock probation is to give a convict a taste of prison and it will shock them into obeying the rules of their probation.

"What you learn and what you see, you can't scrape that from your memory," Lewing said, in reference to prison.

On the stand, Lewing told District Judge Paul White he would not commit the crime again.

"You don't leave chance to anything and that was my fault," he said.

As part of his probation, Lewing agreed to not drink alcohol, undergo counseling, submit to an annual polygraph, have limited computer access, not to contact the victim and report to authorities if the victim tries to contact him and pay for the victim's counseling.

District Attorney Clyde Herrington told White he was not opposed to White's decision to grant probation.

"We're glad that Judge White granted this motion," Lewing's attorney, Al Charanza, said. "This is in the best interest of the victim. As the attorney, I've been working with the victim's family throughout this case and this disposition is what they wanted to happen."