SARASOTA - A Booker High teacher who was accused of grabbing a student and was placed on administrative leave for months will not be charged with a crime, according to the State Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors determined that there were not enough witnesses or evidence to charge him with a misdemeanor battery count.
"The state is not able to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt," according to a memorandum written by Assistant State Attorney Sean Flynn dated this month.
It is the second time in five months a Sarasota County teacher was not charged because of lack of evidence when a female brought forward allegations.
In April, the State Attorney's Office cleared Sarasota High band director after he was accused of making unwanted sexual advances against a former student.
The latest allegations centered at Booker High School as the then 17-year-old student graded his papers in the chemical storage room, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The student was on the phone with her boyfriend when he walked by and squeezed her rear, the girl said, according to the documents.
He told her not to tell her boyfriend what happened and "then walked out of the room like nothing happened," she told authorities.
She reported the incident to her boyfriend, who did not hear anything on the other line, as well as her mother. She also told the school office, and a school resource officer forwarded her complaint to the Sarasota Police Department on April 22.
With his attorney present, he told a detective nothing happened. The girl often graded papers for him during her lunch break.
"He said he has never touched her or any student," the affidavit said. "He cannot remember a time when they were both in that room together at any time. He doesn't know why she would falsely accuse him of something. He said she was a pretty good student but had attendance issues when he had her last year."
He is paid $63,015 annually, was placed on administrative leave April 15. He later returned to work in the district's human resources offices during the school 2012-13 school year.
District spokesman Scott Ferguson said officials only learned on Friday that he would not be charged, so they have not yet moved him back in the classroom.
He has worked at the district since 2001, and his attorney did not comment.
Booker High graduate Rebekah Sellers said she was shocked when she heard he was being investigated.
"It just blew my mind," said Sellers, 28, a 2004 graduate living in Sarasota. "That's not the person I know."
She described him as a popular teacher who is outgoing and a jokester.
"Anything he could do to get a kid excited about learning he would do," she said. "I had tons of friends who had him in his science class. They would talk about how much they loved going to his class." ..Source.. by Gabrielle Russon
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