By: E&P Staff and The Associated Press The editor of the Ashland Daily Tidings has been accused of raping a student in 2000 when he was a teacher and coach at Willamette Valley Christian School.
Andrew Bolsinger, 41, surrendered Friday and was jailed, said Jason Myers, commander at the Marion County sheriff's department.
Bolsinger has been suspended as editor until the case is resolved, said Robert Hunter, editor of the Mail Tribune in Medford.
Both papers are owned by Ottaway Newspapers Inc.
Bolsinger remained in custody Saturday with no lawyer listed as representing him, jail officials said.
Myers said the woman contacted sheriff's deputies in September to report having a sexual relationship with Bolsinger when she was 16.
He is accused of first-degree rape, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 8 years and 4 months under Oregon law, and other charges, which include first-degree sodomy, five counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of first-degree custodial interference.
Bolsinger left the school in Brooks, north of Salem, in May 2000. After working as a journalist in Virginia, he was hired as editor of the Daily Tidings in July 2003.
The Mail Tribune reported that he also has had a recent run of financial and legal problems.
UPDATE
Bolsinger's paper reported Monday he would be arraigned Tuesday in Salem on the rape and sodomy charges.
In a telephone interview with the Tidings from the Marion County Jail, Bolsinger said he was "completely blindsided" by the charges, which he said he planned to fight. Bolsinger, who lives in Phoenix, told the paper he would plead not guilty at his pretrial hearing. He remains in jail. Bail is likely to be considered at his court appearance Tuesday.
His arrest Friday comes after an investigation by the Marion County Sheriff Office, which received a complaint in September 2007 from the alleged victim who reported having a sexual relationship with Bolsinger when she was a 16-year-old student.
The unidentified woman told police she had a relationship with Bolsinger in the spring of 2000. Bolsinger stopped working at the school that May, according to Marion County Sheriff's Cmdr. Jason Myers.
Bolsinger's wife, Lori, whom he was not married to at the time of the alleged incident, told the paper she "stands by" her husband.
"Our family loves and believes in him, and we believe the truth will come out in the end," she said in a telephone interview with the Tidings.
Bolsinger was named as editor of the Tidings in July 2003 after three years working as a political reporter and city editor at the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va., the paper added.
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