Ex-Oakland County choir, theater teacher sentenced for sexually assaulting students

A former choir and theater teacher has been sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting two students in Oakland County, according to prosecutors.

Jason Debandt was convicted in April of two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of fourth-degree sexual assault and two counts of distributing obscene material to a child.

Debandt was found not guilty in February in Wayne County on eight counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct related to acts in Livonia. Twenty-three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, distributing obscene material to a child and using a computer to commit a crime were dismissed.

Nine second-degree criminal sexual conduct charges stemming from Livonia police remain pending in Wayne County Circuit Court after the jury could not make a unanimous decision during the February trial.

Berkley police had been investigating Debandt since September 2020 when a group of women Debandt interacted with while working at schools in Livonia and elsewhere alleged abuse and inappropriate behavior, Detective Lt. Andrew Hadfield said in June 2021.

The first public allegation came on Twitter in August 2020 when a former Clarenceville School District student alleged he had abused her. He was placed on administrative leave Aug. 26, 2020, from his position at North Farmington High School and he resigned in December 2020, Diane Bauman, a spokeswoman for Farmington Public Schools, said in June 2021.

Nine women, including the two involved in the criminal charges, sued Debandt and Clarenceville and Troy schools in October 2020, but the lawsuit was dismissed in September 2021. The women were between 13 and 16 years old during the alleged sexual assaults, their attorney said at a 2020 press conference.

Debandt taught music and theater arts in Farmington and Clarenceville and was involved with choir and theater programs in Clarenceville schools, Troy Athens High School, Madison High School, Crescent Academy, Summit Academy, the University of Michigan's Summer Vocal Academy of Music and Christ Church Cranbrook, according to Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller, one of the attorneys in the civil suit.

Both women involved in the criminal case attended Clarenceville High School, according to the lawsuit. One was in Debandt's choir and theater classes and one was in the school play.

He regularly bought both of them treats and would make sexually explicit comments to them, according to the lawsuit. He sent nude photos to both and solicited nude photos from one.

He sexually assaulted and harassed both at school regularly, according to the lawsuit, making explicit comments, touching them and frequently touching himself or adjusting erections in his pants in front of her. He invited one of the girls over to his house with her friends, providing her with alcohol and letting them stay over and sleep in his bed, according to the lawsuit. He sexually assaulted her at his home and at school, according to the lawsuit.

kberg@detroitnews.com