Local Teacher Arrested After Allegedly Having Sex with Student

BRADENTON – Kassandra Moore, a teacher at the Broach School–a small, private academy on 26th Street West that caters to students with special needs–was arrested Monday morning for allegedly having a sexual affair with a 15 year-old student.

Moore, 31, Bradenton, was charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious battery and one count of transmission of harmful material to a minor, according to the Bradenton Police Department. The school alerted BPD to flirtatious Instagram direct messages that were discovered to have been sent by the teacher to the teen, after another student told the principal about the alleged abuse.

The student who was allegedly abused cooperated with investigators, turning over screenshots of sexual images Moore allegedly sent him, with some depicting nudity. The student told police that he'd met Moore several times at GT Bray Park, where they engaged in sex in a wooded area near the baseball and soccer fields.

The investigation also revealed that Moore attempted to coerce a co-worker into serving as an alibi against the allegations.

The school 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."