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Former ski instructor gets 90 days in jail

Steve Lynn
Vail, CO Colorado

EAGLE ” A former Beaver Creek ski instructor was sentenced to 90 days in jail and six years of probation Monday for buying a 17-year-old alcohol.

David Lorenzen, 44, who was found not guilty of rape charges in May, sat in a courtroom frowning and blinking rapidly with his hands folded as he waited to serve his time in Eagle County jail.

The woman, who accused Lorenzen of raping her after a ski lesson when she was 17, and her parents and prosecutors asked that Lorenzen be ordered to serve four to six years in prison, the maximum sentence his conviction on the lesser offense.



Lorenzen’s probation requires that he cannot drink or use drugs and cannot work with minors, Moorhead said.

Lorenzen apologized for taking up the court’s time and acknowledged that he made an “error in judgment,” but he did not elaborate.

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“It’s going to haunt me for the rest of my days because this will never, never go away,” Lorenzen said.

Outbursts of anger checkered the victim’s father’s testimony. Judge R. Thomas Moorhead sternly reprimanded the father for cursing and casting sidelong glances at Lorenzen and Karen Romeo, assistant district attorney for Eagle County.

The father’s name is being withheld to protect the identity of the woman.

The woman felt Lorenzen “betrayed” her, she said in her testimony.

Lorenzen plans to appeal the conviction, said his attorney, Jim Fahrenholtz.

At the time Lorenzen was convicted, one could not be charged with a felony for buying a minor alcohol. The jury was not told that contributing to the delinquency of a minor was a misdemeanor offense, Fahrenholtz said.

“Out of any appeal that I’ve done, this one seems the most promising,” Fahrenholtz said after the hearing.

In May, a jury found Lorenzen not guilty of sexual assault using force, sexual assault overcoming a victim’s will and sex assault in a position of trust. Lorenzen was found guilty of felony contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Staff Writer Steve Lynn can be reached at 748-2931 or slynn@vaildaily.com.


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