Updated at 3:27 p.m.

A Hillsboro man who worked as a driving instructor at Portland Community College was arrested Thursday after authorities say he’s suspected of sexually abusing at least 20 girls or women who took his course.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said allegations against Paul D. Burdick range from 2012 to 2018 while he was an instructor at the college. Deputy Brian van Kleef said investigators suspect there may be more victims.

Burdick, 48, is 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, van Kleef said.

Burdick is being held on $150,000 bail at the Washington County Jail on accusations of third-degree sexual abuse. He is being charged in 15 separate cases because the other five reported incidents are outside the statute of limitations, van Kleef said.

Kate Chester, a Portland Community College spokeswoman, said Burdick was a part-time driving education instructor who was hired in April 2012. His driving courses took place at the school’s Willow Creek Center in Hillsboro and he took two or three students out for drives at a time.

Burdick was placed on paid administrative leave Aug. 31, 2018 after a student filed a complaint the day before, Chester said. The school began an investigation the next week. He was fired by the college April 24 amid the police investigation, Chester said.

Chester said the college “has cooperated fully with law enforcement throughout this process and will continue to do so.”

According to a search warrant affidavit filed by a county detective seeking Burdick’s employment records, the instructor had been arrested in October 2016 in Washington County on suspicion of groping three 16-year-old girls during driving lessons.

The case was later dismissed after the district attorney’s office didn’t file criminal charges in the case, the affidavit said. Chester said she was told that the decision to close the case in Feb. 2017 was made “based upon the available evidence.”

In that case, Chester said Burdick was placed on paid administrative leave in Oct. 2016 after two students brought allegations to Portland Community College that month. She did not say when or why he was reinstated.

According to the affidavit, three girls told investigators in 2016 that Burdick touched or brushed their breasts and thighs, referred to one of them as “sexy”, bought a second girl candy and flowers, and called the third student “princess”.

The latest investigation began after a 15-year-old girl reported misconduct by Burdick to her mother in August 2018, leading to the parent contacting Portland Community College, the affidavit said. The Department of Human Services was also notified.

The college interviewed the girl and Burdick and placed the instructor on leave before the sheriff’s office began its investigation, according to the affidavit. A lawyer representing the school told the detective that the college would require a court order to turn over any documents related to the school’s investigation, including documentation of Burdick’s statements to officials, his employment history, any disciplinary actions and any related student records, the documents said.

Chester said the college was issued a subpoena by the sheriff’s office for records March 19. She said the college submitted three years of students’ names and contact information, and timesheets of Burdick’s education course drive times to help cross reference dates and lessons.

The 15-year-old told investigators in September 2018 that Burdick had been her driving instructor since that July and she had four lessons with him that lasted two hours each, the affidavit said. She estimated he touched her at least “once every two minutes.”

The girl described to investigators how Burdick repeatedly grabbed her or the steering wheel as she was driving, touch her legs, arms, shoulders, back and knees, and kept staring at her chest during lessons, the documents said.

She said she was scared to say anything in the moment because she thought Burdick could overpower her. She said she also saw Burdick repeatedly touch another girl he was teaching while all three were in the car.

That girl, who was also a teenager, told investigators that October that Burdick would stare at both their chests during classroom portions of their lessons, the affidavit said. He would also touch them both in class and in the car, she said.

The girl described one instance in class when Burdick ran his body into the back of her, touching her back and backside, while demonstrating rear-end crashes to the group, the affidavit said.

Burdick was also a bishop of the Hillsboro Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is no indication at this point that Burdick abused anyone in relation to his church duties, van Kleef said. Some of Burdick’s driving students may have been referred to the driver’s ed course through the church, he said.

The sheriff’s office asks anyone with more information on misconduct by Burdick to contact the agency at 503-846-2700.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 | @EvertonBailey

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