The former owner of three local coffee huts who groped his underage employees will spend the next five years on probation.

Thomas Craig Jones, 45, pleaded no contest to four counts of aggravated harassment for grabbing four female employees’ breasts, thighs and buttocks over a five-month period.

At a sentencing hearing Tuesday, Jones’ lawyer spent the better part of an hour describing him as an “excellent” mentor to young people and a basketball coach who has spent years giving back to the community.

Jones declined to speak.

After listening to Portland lawyer Stephen A. Houze’s comments, Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Forte said he was concerned that Jones didn’t “fully get it.”

“I appreciate what you’ve done, and I think the community appreciates what you’ve done but that also gives you an opportunity to do negative things,” Forte said. “The problem is that you are going to be in that position again.”

As Jones’ wife shook her head in disagreement, Forte said he hoped that the people around Jones would realize he had done some inappropriate things and advised them to “keep an eye on him.”

At the time of the offenses, Jones owned three Alpine Espresso stands, two in Bend and one in Tumalo.

The employees he touched ranged in age from 17 to 25, a group Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Mary Anderson referred to as Jones’ “target zone.”

After his arrest in February, Jones was charged with multiple counts of felony sex abuse but pleaded guilty to four misdemeanors Tuesday.

Jones was allowed to plead to the lesser charges because a psychological evaluation showed he did not grasp the gravity of his conduct and that he is very unlikely to re-offend, Anderson said. Jones cooperated with investigators who worked the case and has gotten into counseling, she said.

Anderson described four victims who had very similar encounters with Jones at the coffee stands he owned.

She said he tested the waters by making inappropriate sexual comments and jokes before touching the women.

“The defendant just doesn’t have any idea of appropriate boundaries at all,” Anderson said.

At one point Jones told police that he thought of one of his victims as a daughter, she said.

Another victim explained how Jones put her in a position where he could ogle her.

“If he was handing her milk, she would lean over to take it, and he would lower it to look down her shirt,” Anderson said.

Jones said nothing at the sentencing but his lawyer submitted letters in support of his client, including one from a local police officer.

“He is not a predatory person or likely to re-offend,” said Houze. “This was a workplace environment, an inappropriate sexual environment, but he’s not out in the community acting predatory toward other community members.”

Houze said the criminal case was an “unfortunate event” that Jones’ family has had to live with.

He asked Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Forte to consider Jones’ volunteer work with charitable organizations and as a basketball coach for youth. Houze pointed out that Jones has never been in trouble before and said he has learned a very painful lesson.

“We’re not asking the court to give him some kind of an award,” Houze said.

Forte agreed to stick to the terms of a plea agreement and sentenced Jones to five years’ probation and 400 hours of community service work. He also ordered Jones to have no unsupervised contact with minors, continue in counseling and to pay three of the four victims $2,500 each.

The other victim made a separate settlement agreement with Jones.

Before handing down the sentence, Forte reiterated his concerns about Jones future behavior.

“The people who come down the road, who appear in court on these kinds of offenses tend to be charming people,” Forte said. “People who are upright in the community, who do good things. And it happens time and time again, and that’s what is so troublesome.

“These folks get the opportunity because of who they are in the community and that’s what is so troublesome.”