Deliberations to begin in molest case Prosecutors call admitted pedophile a 'wolf,' but he argues sexual contact broke communication barriers. May 15, 2001 By MONICA VALENCIA The Orange County Register A prosecutor Monday likened Kenneth Teague, an admitted pedophile who could face life in prison if convicted of child molestation, to a wolf in sheep's clothing. "The wolf is predatory in nature," said Deputy District Attorney Randy Payne, describing the articulate, clean-cut, 43-year-old in a charcoal-gray suit. "He likes to eat sheep. (Teague) clothed himself in decency. He tricked them." Teague, who is representing himself in the trial, shot down Payne's characterization during his own closing argument. Yes, there was sexual contact. And yes, he was aroused by it. But his intent was not criminal, Teague said. "It was not sodomy," Teague told the Orange County Superior Court jury. He said his sexual contact proved a successful way to break down communication barriers with often-difficult children. "We had a level of understanding and support you wouldn't find in any mainstream relationship," Teague said. The jury today will begin deliberating the fate of Teague, who has been called one of the worst sex offenders by Payne and Irvine police. He is charged with 16 counts of engaging in lewd and lascivious behavior with three identified minors - all younger than 14 - and as many as 15 victims, investigators said. The cases occurred from the late 1980s through August 1998. Payne portrayed the Irvine man as a "master manipulator" with a feces fixation who used his service in the Boy Scouts, Big Brothers and foster-parent programs to lure boys to him and his bestial pleasures. Teague, a self-employed computer consultant who studied psychology in college, was unnoticed for many years by law enforcement until lurid tales of sexual abuse piled up. "Don't buy into his deceit," Payne told jurors in Judge Frank Fasel's courthouse in Santa Ana. "Don't let the wolf get away." The weeklong trial was emotionally wrenching for the victims' parents, who viewed photographs and videos taken by Teague showing him engaged in sex acts with their sons. At times, jurors looked away or shook their heads in disbelief. "I'm not embarrassed by those tapes, because those tapes reflect my values," Teague said. At one point, Teague showed jurors a heart-shaped candle that symbolized his love with one of the boys who sought Teague as a foster parent after they became friends through Big Brothers. The Department of Social Services yanked Teague's foster-parent license in June 1997 after allegations of molestation surfaced. "I promised him next time we lit it was when I would be (his) foster parent," said Teague, choking back tears. Register news researchers Eugene Balk and Pam Eisenberg contributed to this report.