BRADENTON, Fla. — A Manatee County teacher was arrested Monday morning and charged for allegedly having sex multiple times in a park with a 15-year-old student, according to the Bradenton Police Department.
- Teacher arrested after reports of sexual acts with student
- Student cooperated with officials to give information
- If you have more information, contact Detective Michael Page at 941-932-9314
Kassandra Moore, 31, of Bradenton, was taken into custody by BPD and charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious battery and one count of transmission of harmful material to a minor.
"This is a person that has no business having any involvement with children," said Bradenton Police Captain Brian Thiers. "This is, to me, a predatory-type person."
The issue was first brought to the attention of Bradenton Police on April 10, 2019 when they were informed of a complaint from the Broach School, the private K-12 school where Moore had been employed as a teacher.
Detective Michael Page responded to the school and was presented with a printed copy of text message conversations between Moore and a 15-year-old student. The messages, sent through Instagram chat, were of a flirtatious manner.
"It seems like she was a very friendly teacher," Thiers said. "Liked by most of her students that led to him being a little bit more friendly with her."
The student in question cooperated with investigators and released several screenshots of lewd, selfie-style photographs Moore had sent him, wearing lingerie and had her body parts exposed and posed in a sexual manner.
The student then informed Page that he and Moore arranged to meet at G.T. Bray Park on numerous occasions and engaged in sexual intercourse.
Other revelations
The investigation also revealed that Moore attempted to retain assistance from another teacher at the Broach School to serve as an alibi for her actions.
She also contacted a former student to see if it was possible to delete messages and images from another person’s password-locked cell phone.
We interviewed that former student, Joseph Dutra, who graduated from the Broach School three years ago.
Dutra described Moore as "really nice" and a "friendly teacher." He believes she came to him because she knew he worked at an electronics retailer.
"She looked at me saying like, 'hey, is there any way you can get rid of text messages?'" Dutra explained. "She really didn't tell me why she wanted to do it. But I just told her no, there's no way. Try going to the Apple Store if it's your phone."
Dutra said he was shocked by Moore's actions and her arrest.
"It goes to show you who some people really are," he said.
Statement from school
In response to Moore's arrest and the charges filed against her, the owners of the Broach School, Children's Educational Services, Inc., issued the following statement:
"Our students and families are our top priority and we are deeply saddened by these allegations. Once we were notified of the allegations, we immediately reported them to the appropriate authorities and the teacher was terminated.
All employees of CES are thoroughly vetted and complete a thorough FDLE background screening prior to employment. We take these allegations very seriously and are doing everything we can to facilitate the investigation.
In order to protect the privacy of our students and their families and to maintain the integrity of the ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide further comment at this time."
This is an on-going investigation, but if anyone has any information on this case, please contact Detective Michael Page at (941) 932-9314 or michael.page@bradentonpd.com.
You may also email your information to CRIMETIPS@CITYOFBRADENTON.COM or to remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward of up to $3,000, call Crime Stoppers (toll-free) at 1-866-634-8477 (TIPS) or send an anonymous E-Tip through the web here.
(Moore's mugshot below)
