COQUILLE — A Coos County judge has refused to grant a former Marshfield High School senior convicted of sexually abusing another student credit for time spent in jail before his conviction.

Coos County Circuit Court Judge Michael Gillespie sentenced Marcus Beckett of Coos Bay on Thursday to 30 days in the county jail and three years on probation for a single count of second-degree sex abuse. He also will have to register as a sex offender for at least 10 years.

Beckett’s lawyer, David Terry of Roseburg, felt it was unfair the judge didn’t give his client credit for the time he sat in jail. Beckett’s arrest March 9 on allegations he raped and sodomized a 14-year-old girl set off protests at Marshfield. Students wore T-shirt with slogans supporting the former senior and raised money for his legal fees.

Ultimately, Beckett was jailed for nearly two weeks before Gillespie released him on house arrest.

The lawyer said the more serious charges — first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy — police initially levied against Beckett were not supported by evidence and had such high bail requirements Beckett’s family couldn’t pay to get him out.

“The bail was astronomical,” Terry said.

Terry contended his client wouldn’t have sat that long in jail had investigators done their research and arrested him on the lesser charges. He also blamed Oregon’s sentencing guidelines, suggesting they limited the judge’s discretion.

“I came of age in a time when judges were allowed to judge,” Terry said.

Gillespie cut him off, saying the lawyer’s comments were offensive and he did in fact have the discretion to impose or not impose jail time.

“I have been doing this for 17 years,” Gillespie said. “No one tells me what to do.”

Terry apologized, saying his criticisms were not directed at Gillespie, but rather what he considered excessive charges.

The judge said the court has relaxed sentencing guidelines over the past two years due to limited space in the county jail. Before the cutback, Beckett could have been jailed up to 90 days.

“He is  a victim of his own criminal conduct,” Gillespie said.

Beckett sat silently while his lawyer and Deputy District Attorney Richard Tovey gave the judge accounts of the March 6 incident.

Tovey said Beckett and the 14-year-old had been with another couple at the beach earlier in the day. Then they all went at Beckett’s house, where Beckett and the girl ended up alone in the basement.

“It progressed to the point where the defendant had the victim on a bed,” Tovey said.

He said both teens had their clothes off, but the girl told Beckett she didn’t want to continue and the defendant had pinned her down. Later that day, the girl reported the incident to police.

Terry said Beckett told a different version of events than the deputy DA.

The teenager admitted to investigators he had oral sex with the girl and started to have intercourse with her but stopped. He told police everything had been consensual. Terry suggested the girl looked and acted older than her 14 years.

But she was 14, Gillespie said. Whether she consented and how old she may have looked is immaterial under Oregon law.

“She may have looked like Jessica Simpson for all I know, but she was a kid,” Gillespie said.

“You were the adult in this situation,” he told Beckett.

Beckett settled on a plea agreement in May. District Attorney R. Paul Frasier said the agreement reflected the evidence. The state could not prove Beckett threatened or forced the victim. The burden of proof on the sex abuse charge didn’t require force, just that the girl couldn’t legally consent due to her age.

If Beckett completes his probation without incident, he can apply to have the charge downgraded to a misdemeanor. However, that doesn’t change his sex offender registration requirement.

“We all resist temptation every day, ...” the judge told him. “You didn’t choose to do that in a circumstance that will have a draconian effect on the rest of your life.”