31-year-old Bradenton teacher accused of having sex with 15-year-old student

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - A 31-year-old Bradenton teacher has been arrested after police say she had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old student.

Kassandra Moore (whose maiden name is Kassandra Thomas) was charged Monday, June 24 with four counts of lewd and lascivious battery and one count of transmission of harmful material to a minor.

According to a press release from the Bradenton Police Department, they received a complaint on April 10, 2019 from Broach School, a non-profit educational company that owns and operates two K-12 school models for students who need a personalized education focus, 26th Street West where Moore was then teaching high school students.

The Broach School is a private school and unaffiliated with the Manatee County School District. Police say a juvenile “told another juvenile something,” after which police received a tip through their news hotline and responded to the school to begin their investigation. Moore was immediately placed on administrative leave by the school when the investigation began.

A detective received a printed copy of text messages between the teacher and the student through an Instagram chat, which police deemed were flirtatious. Police say after the student was questioned, the 15-year-old boy released several screenshots of inappropriate selfie-style photographs Moore sent him. Police say the pictures showed Moore wearing lingerie, exposing her body parts and posing in a sexual manner.

After further investigation, police say they found Moore and the student engaged in sexual intercourse at G.T. Bray Park on numerous occasions. Police say a condom found at the park matched Moore’s DNA profile.

Police say they also located video surveillance of a separate incident behind Inspiration Academy on 40th Avenue West, where they could clearly see the teen and Moore together in Moore’s vehicle.

Police say they discovered Moore asked another teacher at the school to serve as an alibi and contacted a former student to see how she could delete messages and images from another person’s locked cell phone. Police say the teacher Moore asked to serve as an alibi was cooperative with their investigation and is not facing any charges.

Moore was fired by the Broach School two days after being placed on administrative leave and police say the school has been cooperative in their investigation. Children’s Educational Services (CES), which owns the Broach School, released the following statement to ABC7:

“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.”

Bradenton Police say this investigation in ongoing and if you have any information or know of any other victims contact 941-932-9314.

Copyright 2019 WWSB. All rights reserved.