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Ex-teacher gets life term for assault on girl

He cornered and fondled a 12-year-old English girl last year, and has a prior conviction for a similar incident in 2002.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 5, 2006

ORLANDO - A former teacher was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old English girl in a hotel elevator.

Carl Bradley Moore, 37, preyed upon tourists and the defenseless and a life sentence was the only way to protect the community, Judge Jose Rodriguez said.

"This was premeditated, calculated in manner, looking for the availability of victims who would not be around to complain," Rodriguez said.

Moore pleaded guilty in January to lewd or lascivious molestation of a child age 12 to 16, false imprisonment of a child under age 13 and battery.

On July 18, he followed the girl from the parking lot into the elevator at the Enclave resort. Trapping her in the closed elevator, he reached under her clothing and touched her genitals, officials said. The girl told investigators she screamed and bit his hand when he tried to muffle her. She pushed the elevator alarm and escaped when the doors opened.

The victim and her family, who live in a village outside London, watched the sentencing through an Internet broadcast.

Moore's attorney, Christopher Smith, said he would seek to get a reduced sentence.

"I was disappointed," Smith said. "I didn't feel that given the nature of the conduct that it deserved that much time."

Psychologist Ted Shaw testified that Moore suffers from a sexual disorder, being aroused by touching or rubbing against people without their consent. The Kissimmee father of two frequented area hotels seeking such opportunities, Shaw said, and probably had "a pretty high frequency" of success. But Shaw said Moore, if given proper treatment, was unlikely to continue such behavior.

But a prosecutor pointed to a similar incident in 2002, when Moore was convicted of battery for fondling another girl at a different hotel. He lost his teaching certificate after that incident.

Judge Rodriguez said it was likely Moore committed numerous similar acts that went unreported. He said he would not risk the chance Moore would engage in similar behavior if released.

"I think you are so drawn to what you've done, and having done it so often, that it is engrained," Rodriguez said.

[Last modified May 5, 2006, 02:30:26]