Bad Bad Teacher

Shawn Trotter, 35, of Vero Beach, Florida a former history teacher and coach at South Fork High School has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading no contest to three counts of sexual activity with a minor.

Previously it had been reported that in exchange for his guilty plea Trotter would be sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by two years of house arrest and an additional three years on sex offender probation.

Currently it is being reported that Trotter also received 10 years of probation and will have to register as a sex offender.

We have no explanation for the discrepancy between the terms of the plea deal announced last month when Trotter pleaded guilty and the sentencing associated with the plea deal today.

Trotter came to the attention of authorities in January of this year when two students told school officials they knew of a teacher who was having a sexual relationship with another student.

During the investigation the girl admitted that the two had sex in his classroom closet on January 18th, 22nd and 29th of this year. The girl told police that she had sex with him because she feared he would tell her parents about a past relationship and some minor drug use if she refused his advances.

Trotter’s father-in-law, Richard Mulanax, claims that Trotter is innocent of the charges but took the plea to spare his family the trauma of a trial and the risk of a possible 45 year prison sentence if he went to trial and was convicted.

The prosecution points to the DNA evidence found in Trotter’s classroom which showed Trodder’s DNA mingled with the girl’s saying that would have been enough to ensure a conviction against him.

Judge Larry Schack, at sentencing wondered aloud how Trotter’s fluids could be found mingled with the girl’s in his classroom for any other reason than that they had sex.

Judge Schack told Trotter, “I’ve been trying to find an innocent explanation for this, but frankly, sir, I can’t think of one“.

The following is the OPINION of the webmaster of badbadteacher.com:

Fortunately for both the victim in this case and justice in general, Trotter’s seminal fluid mixed with the girl’s DNA was found in Trotter’s storage room, exactly where the victim said the sexual activity occurred.

That within the same storage room a second stain containing Trotter’s seminal fluid mixed with body fluids of another yet unidentified individual adds to the weight of the DNA evidence against Trotter and of course raises the possibility of that individual being identified, adding a second victim to the case against trotter.

Under the weight of this scientific evidence Trotter’s defense was left with no option other than a plea deal.

One might advance the theory that the mixed DNA was the result of activity other than intercourse but how would the defense explain the fact that Trotter’s seminal fluid was found in two separate stains on the storage room carpet without admitting that he placed it there via masturbation or by arguing that someone transported it there for reasons unknown. Then comes the task of explaining how it was mixed with the the DNA of two individuals, one the victim, the other as yet unknown?

With Trotter’s seminal fluid in the two stains, the task of explaining away the DNA evidence becomes impossible using any “innocent” explanation, leaving nothing other than reaching for some wild-eyed conspiracy theory in which two individuals managed to place their DNA in exactly the spots where Trotter’s seminal fluid was found. Not even the internet conspiracy kooks would subscribe to that theory.

The DNA test results leads one to conclude that Shawn Trotter pleaded guilty because he is guilty.

By pleading guilty in this case Trotter can hope to avoid a second similar case. His pleading guilty and serving his sentence will likely permit the second and currently unknown victim to find consolation and possibly remain silent.

That the victim, her family and Shawn Trotter’s family have been victimized is without question.

It is also without question that they were all victimized by none other than Shawn Trotter.

Shawn Trotter can and should ‘be a man’, admit the truth and let all of the wounded parties get on with the healing.

That would be the decent thing to do…

References:

Former South Fork teacher goes to prison

Former teacher sentenced in student sex case (8/24/07)

View All Bad Bad Teacher Coverage of the Case of Shawn Trotter

Webmaster’s Note: A Shawn Trotter support site exists, for how much longer we have no idea. For those interested they may wish to visit FreeTrotter.com for a view of what these cases are like for family members and friends of the accused.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 24th, 2007 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Coaches, Florida, Hall of Shame, High Schools, History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.