A Portland Community College driving instructor, accused by nearly two dozen girls or women of sexually abusing them during lessons, was sentenced Feb. 20 to six months in jail, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office said.

Paul Douglas Burdick, 48, pleaded guilty to six counts of third-degree sex abuse, a misdemeanor, in January, court records show. He had faced another 15 counts of sex abuse, which prosecutors later dismissed.

Burdick was accused of groping driving students during practice or test drives and would instruct some of the young women to perform jumping jacks to record them on his cellphone, authorities said.

Paul Burdick (Washington County Sheriff's Office)

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said the suspected abuse occurred between 2012 and 2018 while Burdick taught driving courses at the school’s Willow Creek Center in Hillsboro. Portland Community College fired him in April 2019 amid the criminal investigation.

Burdick also served as a bishop at the Hillsboro Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which later removed him from the post.

After Burdick’s arrest in September, three of the sex abuse victims filed a lawsuit against him, seeking $2 million each.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632

Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh

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