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Band director at school faces sex charges
By LOGAN D. MABE © St. Petersburg Times, published October 12, 2000 TAMPA -- A 30-year-old high school band director was arrested Wednesday on charges of having a two-year sexual relationship with one of his teenage students. Hillsborough County sheriff's officials said Roger Dale Preston, who was hired as band director at Leto High School in 1997, twice performed oral sex on the boy and performed lewd and lascivious acts upon him "numerous times." The acts began when the boy was 15 years old, authorities said. Preston turned himself in to sheriff's officials Wednesday morning and was briefly jailed before being released in the afternoon on $16,000 bail. Preston, of 3208 Northgreen Ave. No. 2201, was put on administrative leave Oct. 3 when sheriff's detectives began investigating. He is charged with lewd and lascivious acts on a child younger than 16 and unlawful sexual activity with a minor, both felonies. "Unfortunately, I have no comment at this time," Preston said when reached at his home. The student, who is not being identified because of the nature of the allegations, said he thinks Preston took advantage of him. He said that at age 15 he was easily manipulated by an older authority figure. "I was so young before," he said in an interview. "I couldn't recognize things. I thought that was just the way things were in high school. Then I realized the manipulations, and I couldn't take it anymore. "Business was business when it came to band. Everything was cool. But personally, ... I didn't like it. I didn't like it one bit." The boy, now 17, told his parents, who then met with Leto administrators. The parents filed a complaint last week, and the Sheriff's Office began an investigation. The boy has since left Leto High. "I feel a lot better now that I finally said something," he said. "He was my mentor and my teacher, and it hurt deep down inside to do it, but this was wrong." Leto principal Daniel Bonilla announced Preston's arrest to the school Wednesday and sent home a letter with each student. In it, Bonilla assured parents that "there is no evidence that other students are victims of these alleged crimes." Bonilla said students were stunned by the news, particularly the 98 members of the award-winning Falcon marching band. "The ones that know him are very upset," Bonilla said. "This is a person who in their eyes has been a very good person. They're also feeling pressure as a band because (Preston) was a leader in the band." Bonilla said he will not "jump to conclusions" about the case and emphasized that "these are accusations and allegations that are not founded at this moment." The band continues to practice and play under the leadership of two other staffers, Bonilla said. "We've had difficult times here in the past, and we must band together," Bonilla said. "And the show must go on." -Times researcher John Martin contributed to this story. Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 226-3464 or mabe@sptimes.com.
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