As we suspected…Here we go again! Aspen yoga teacher Steven Jon Roger, 47, was arrested last Thursday on suspicion of sexual assault alleged by female students at O2 Aspen where he teaches (taught?). He paid his first visit to the courtroom yesterday to face one felony (!) count of sexual assault, alleged to have occurred last May, and four misdemeanor counts of unlawful sexual contact, ranging in occasion from 2007, June 2006 and July 2005, all from separate women. If he’s convicted he could be locked up for 10 years! We’re going to have to wait until the hearing at 10:30am on March 2 to find out (although a full sentence is dubious).
So what did this guy do? According to an arrest affidavit, “Roger would touch a woman’s thighs and buttocks with his hands and without her consent during a class.”
But he says he’s done nothing wrong! Interviewed by authorities in November (when the allegations were filed we guess), Roger stuck to his guns and stated that in his 15 years of teaching “he has never had a complaint,” and that he couldn’t think of anyone who might have a problem with him.
So we know what you’re thinking… either:
“Aw, poor dude. Sometimes you have to touch people, it’s just part of teaching. This is a conspiracy to ruin Mr. Roger!”
OR
“That slimebucket. I’ve been there, I know teachers who’ve gotten extra gropey when they were not invited…Teach him a lesson and lock him up!”
Welp, while it’s too early to cast any of our own aspersions just yet (weird, we know), we’re just hoping the lady accusers are being honest. And if they are, big props to the whistle blowers for having the guts to take action instead of letting this guy continue his Aspen graspin’ ways.
[Aspen Times] [The DenverChannel.com]
Earlier… Hong Kong Yoga Teacher Found Guilty in Molestation Case
