Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
After a Jacksonville fourth-grade teacher was arrested in Jacksonville for six counts of lewd and lascivious contact with a child, a backlash is being directed at the Duval County School Board for keeping the suspect in a classroom despite similar accusations in 2009. Christopher Bacca, 26, a teacher at Windy Hill Elementary School in Jacksonville, is being held without a Duval County bond after his Jacksonville sex charge arrest last week, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Shortly after his Duval County Sex Charge Arrest, previous allegations that included an investigation by the Florida Department of Children and Families surfaced. The state recommended that Bacca be placed in a position with a less vulnerable student population, but he ended up back in a classroom with young children.
In the recent Jacksonville Sex Case, a boy told police he showered with Bacca and that Bacca fondled him and performed oral sex on him, the newspaper reported. School officials have not commented on whether the alleged victim is or was a student of Bacca’s. But media reports have focused more on the 2009 incident and the red flags that it raised – or should have raised with the Jacksonville schools. In that case, an investigation started by the Florida Department of Children and Families found Bacca kissed a boy on the lips and slept in the same bed with him, the newspaper reported. The boy said he was living with Bacca for several months. The boy’s mother said Bacca was a family friend and never reported any Jacksonville sexual abuse, nor did the boy.
Because there was no physical evidence of abuse and no Jacksonville sex crime accusations from the boy or his mother, police closed the case. Bacca is now being portrayed as a multiple-time convicted Jacksonville sexual offender, which is not the case. In fact, Bacca was never even arrested in Duval County in the 2009 case.
There are elements of the 2009 case that will likely never be made public. If Bacca and the boy were living together and the boy’s mother knew of it, there was likely some longer-standing relationship between the families. All anyone sees now is the DCF report and immediate brands him a predator. Such is the nature of sex crimes in Duval, Clay and Nassau Counties. More than any other crime, an accusation is as good as a conviction in the mind of the public. And if there is a conviction or a guilty plea, Duval sex crimes are the only crimes that allow the state to alert area residents if you move into their neighborhood. That’s not even true for people released on murder charges.
Sex crimes accusations in Florida can be extremely difficult to recover from. A conviction makes it even more of an uphill climb. Sex crimes often put the word of one person against another’s and, in many cases, there is little physical evidence for the state to show. If you or a loved one is accused of a sex crime, calling an Experienced Jacksonville Sex Crimes Attorney is imperative. Our Jacksonville Sex Lawyer has represented hundreds of clients accused of sex crimes and knows how to defend against these types of charges.
If you or a loved one needs a Sex Crimes Attorney in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a FREE CONSULTATION. Our Duval County Sex Crimes Lawyer is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.