As his victims' supporters shouted obscenities, former Catholic high school teacher Mark Baggio was escorted from court Thursday to begin serving a four-year sentence for having sex with two female students.

But the convicted sex offender may not spend more than a few nights in the county jail if an Ontario Court of Appeal judge agrees to release him on bail pending appeal.

Defence lawyer Patrick Ducharme said a Toronto lawyer has already begun preparing Baggio's appeal. Ducharme said he expects the lawyer to file a bail application today. "I'm hopeful it would be as soon as next week," he said of Baggio's release.

FOUND GUILTY

After 23 days of trial last summer, Baggio, 35, was convicted in September of two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual exploitation and two counts of corrupting a child for affairs with two female students between 2000 and 2005. Both girls were students at Brennan Catholic high school where Baggio taught religion, leadership, and was a guidance counsellor and popular coach. While the sexual relationships continued throughout the girls' high school careers, beginning when they were 13 and 15 years old, Baggio began grooming them for sex while they were still in grade school.

Many of the sex acts occurred on school property or on school outings.

Superior Court Justice Joseph Quinn sentenced Baggio to two years on each of the sexual assault charges and one year to be served concurrently on each of the child corruption charges.

And while he found Baggio guilty of sexual exploitation, the judge did not impose a sentence on those charges, explaining the offences were included in the sexual assault charges.

Quinn said he not only considered the prospect of rehabilitation for Baggio and deterrence in determining a sentence, but denunciation of the crimes was an important factor in his mind.

"Parents, when they send their children to school, do not expect a teacher to groom them for his own sexual gratification," the judge said.

After Quinn's 15-minute sentencing, police officers led Baggio from the courtroom in handcuffs. His mother called to him, "We're with you, Mark."

Supporters of the two victims then began to shout obscenities at Baggio.

Assistant Crown attorney Craig Sigurdson had asked Quinn to sentence Baggio to six years in a federal penitentiary, saying Baggio had robbed two girls of "the best years of their lives."

He said the fact Baggio was a teacher who exploited his position of authority was an aggravating factor.

"Teachers hold the children of this nation as a sacred trust, and they must not break that trust," Sigurdson had said at the December hearing.

Baggio's lawyer had asked the judge to sentence Baggio to two years, the shortest sentence for a penitentiary term.

Ducharme entered into evidence 33 letters written by Baggio's friends and family who spoke of his honesty, integrity and strong character.

Ducharme said Baggio maintains his innocence. "I believe in my client. I don't believe he did these acts."

Windsor police Det. Glenn Gervais said the victims and their families did not want to speak to the media. Speaking on their behalf, Gervais said that unlike Baggio the victims have received life sentences. "I think these girls have been sentenced to a lifetime, a lifetime of thinking about what happened."

Quinn, in passing sentence, addressed the emotional toll the crimes had on the victims. "The publicity has compounded the effect this trial has had on the victims."

Sigurdson said he was "struck by the dignity and courage" of the young women and their families.

The court "sent a message that sexual abuse by offenders occupying a position of trust will result in serious consequences," he said.

As part of his sentence, Baggio was ordered to provide a blood sample for the police DNA database of offenders and he will be on the national sex offender registry for 20 years. The registry, used by police agencies, is not accessible to the public.

Baggio was arrested Dec. 20, 2005. He spent one night in jail before being released on bail. He has remained free on bail since being remanded out of custody after his conviction.

Ducharme said Baggio has hired Toronto lawyer Marie Henein to represent him in his appeal.

ANOTHER TRIAL

Mark Baggio will be back in a Windsor courtroom in March to stand trial for the alleged sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a third student.

At his request, the charges were severed from the last criminal case and he will be tried separately on the allegations. Baggio told the court he has no intention of testifying in the second.

That was one of the reasons cited by Superior Court Justice Joseph Quinn for severing the charges.

Baggio is facing two civil lawsuits launched by the victims and their families.