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Show Sunday, November - ft Many say tths 2S, 13S0 THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Page CI known for years guiR-.iva- The allegations say the Montana teacher molested generations of students In a BOUfDER, Mont UP) it town f 1,400 people, word has a way of getting around. Some folks now say it was known for years that Douglas Marks was molesting his male students. But no one did anything about it How could it continue for three decades? Marks' reputation as a devoted teacher? People's unwillingness to believe such improbable allegations? The young victims' reluctance to talk? His wealthy and influential family, which includes a brother who once was speaker of the Montana House? School board chairman David Rieder dissects each theory, and close-kn- finally concludes that he just doesnt know. 'It was fairly common knowledge of his sexual preference,' said Rieder, a rancher who has known Marks all his life. "With all the psychological problems Doug had ... for some reason, these red flags went unheeded. "I think there's a tendency for everyone to submerge these bad thoughts. I think people tend not to want to deal with the darker side of life and I include myself in that." Boulder's loosely kept secret went public in February when Marks, 63, was charged with molesting four of his students between 1985 and 1989. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced Nov. 14 to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $25,000 for counseling for his young victims. County Attorney Richard Llewellyn said he knows Marks molested at least 45 students, including sons of victims he attacked a generation ago. But some residents and vic- tims say it's likely Marks molested several hundred students during the past three decades. All didnt remain the victims silent "We know now that they told some people," Rieder said. The school board has hired two investigators to determine if teachers, principals or counselors failed to protect students. It was Dr. Phillip Paliister, a physician who forced the school board to oust Marks from Boulder's high school in 1959 for molesting three students, who forced officials to investigate again, 30 years later. It also was Paliister who helped Marks get another teaching Job in where 1960 at net5y Clancy officials say four to five students and may have been molested Paliister who encouraged the Boulder School Board to rehire Marks as an elementary school teacher in 1965. i thought of him as a homosexual then, not as a pedophile," Paliister said, calling his decision a terrible mistake. Paul Myrhow, now 24, said he first was molested by Marks in a school restroom in 1980 after a seventh-grad- e sex education class Marks had volunteered to teach. Their relationship continued for years. Myrhow blew the whistle twice, the first tune in 1985, when he approached Daryl Craft, a longtime friend who had become a Jefferson County deputy sheriff. Craft did not doubt the story he, too, had been molested by Marks. "In my graduating class, more than half were victims," said the deputy, who graduated in 1873 with 12 to 14 other boys. "If Paul hadn't come forward, I don't have any doubt that Doug would still be doing the same thing." And Marks did do the same thing for five more years. All four of the offenses to which he pleaded guilty in July occurred after Myrhow first reported him. Craft took Myrhow to Sheriff Tom Dawson, who later told the deputy that he was having trouble locating victims and witnesses Myrhow had named. Paliister said he knows the sheriff investigated, but no charge was filed, and Marks continued to teach. The sheriff wont talk about it Myrhow said he believes Marks molested boys in every class, every year, but that the boys apparently never told one another. "Sometimes I think he would be molesting every male in his class, and sometimes only one or two," Myrhow said. Marks began "recruiting" boys in elementary grades with touching and petting, thai arranged to take them on school trips in the seventh or eighth grades, Myrhow said. "He'd usually take three kids, because if you had two double beds one would get stuck with sleeping with him." Myrhow is certain that townspeople knew what was going on. At a bar that Marks favored, Myrhow said, "Doug would come in for a sandwich and when he left, people would joke about who he was taking on trips this year." Llewellyn said be doubts the molestation was widely known in Ibis Rocky Mountain ranching and mining town. Some victims told him their parents did not believe them, and some said they did not tell their parents. "Some tried to tell some school people, but the message oftentimes - - was missed," Llewellyn said. "Some of the victims apparently were trying to tell people for some X l time." Myrhow persisted. In Jane 1989, he made bis second effort to expose Marks. This time, be went to Paliister. Paliister took Myrhow to Llewellyn, who asked the state attorney general's office for help. But when school began, Marks still was teaching, and Paliister found mat none of the victims Myrhow bad identified had been contacted. a teacher, there's ' V ,: J Pressed by Paliister, Llewellyn hired his own investigator in December and accumulated enough evidence within two months to file charges. As I . J 1 jgffTi 1 H -- M : no argu- ment Marks was widely admired. He quietly donated part of his salary to the school each year, spent vacations painting the school, and bought shoes for needy students. Two sections of the high school were dedicated to him. Wall plaques, quietly removed after his guilty plea, extolled "his years of service to the community.' But eyebrows were raised over the fact that Marks lived in the elementary school except on weekends, sleeping on a cot in the nurse's room. Cold may push him Lanerpbote Farmer teacher Douglas Marks stands after pleading guilty to sexually abasing f oar of his male students. o Texas FALLS, Idaho (AP) -CDecember, William Collins may have to migrate south like the birds. transient Collins, a who lives in a tent along Willow Creek in Idaho Falls, has been IDAHO ome well-spok- ... warned about eastern Idaho's harsh winter weather. "I don't intend to stay beyond December because of the extreme cold," he said, revealing a New Zealand accent. "I may be caused to, but I'm expectant of being able to move." During recent cold nights, the Collins has thought about packing his belongings and heading for El Paso, Texas. Without a stove, Collins has no way to heat his makeshift shelter, Mar? ; rrlvt, -- T 20 for 40 for situated between the railroad tracks and a landfill on the city's north side. He tries to retain body heat by insulating the tent with cardboard boxes and wearing layers of clothing, but it's still hard to fend off the chill of the frosty mornings. In the evening he stays warm by taking a walk or lighting a small fire in half of a drum. He gathers firewood from the willow trees that line the creek bank. Collins, whose travels have taken him to Chicago, Reno and Salt Lake City, came to Idaho Falls in July and stayed because he found a Social Security Aclministration office where he could apply for disability benefits and a public library that was suitable for research on a novel. Collins, who says a leg injury prevents him from working, has applied for disability assistance twice before. Both times it was denied. A native of New Zealand who moved to the United States in 1968, Collins spends most mornings in the library, doing research on a novel he calls "Changing Winds." The theme, he says, is "the paths of duty lead to nowhere," which seems particularly fitting for a man with wanderlust. "I'm quite pleased with the Idaho Falls Public Library," he said. "It's got good research material there in the nonfiction area, so it's an adequate library for what I need." Paul Holland, library director, said four or five transients regularly use the library and some have interesting research projects. A few years ago, some people complained that transients using the library smelled bad and that they didn't want them around because they feared for their children's safety. However, transients who use the library cause few problems, Holland said. "Most of the time they try to stay out of the way," he said. "They don't particularly want to bring attention to themselves. 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