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Educator Accused Of Fondling Boy Was New To Teaching

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Derrick Richard Sepp met the boy at a Regal Cinema at Eagle Ridge Mall in Lake Wales on March 15, detectives said.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 3, 2008

Updated: 04/03/2008 09:48 pm

TAMPA - A Hendry County schoolteacher charged with fondling a young boy inside a Polk County movie theater last month remained in jail this afternoon after a judge set bail at $300,000.

  Derrick Richard Sepp

A court-appointed defense attorney told the judge that Derrick Richard Sepp could not possibly make that bail. Sepp, 32, of Fort Myers, was arrested Wednesday afternoon by several undercover officers with the Lake Wales Police Department after he showed up at the same theater to meet the youth again.

Officers said Fort Myers police seized four computers from Sepp's home Wednesday night and turned them over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to see what the hard drives contained.

Sepp began teaching at LaBelle Middle School in Hendry County in August, records show, and he received his teaching certificate just a month earlier.

News of Sepp's arrest was shocking to some of the staff at LaBelle Middle School, said assistant Principal Marcus Jenkins on Thursday night.

The district is on spring break this week and that's a good thing.

"Of course there is never a good time for something like this to happen," he said.

Sepp was in his first year of teaching and, after "he connected with some veteran's teacher," he grew into the role.

"He was an excellent teacher," Jenkins said. "He did his own thing in the classroom."

Jenkins described Sepp as a team player.

"He attended all the school functions and he played basketball with the faculty," Jenkins said. "He has no family here, so this school was his family."

Hendry County School Board meeting minutes show that Sepp was among a handful of teachers hired last summer. Florida Department of Education records say he received his teacher certification in July. He is certified in elementary education and middle school general science and mathematics.

Police said that Sepp, who told the boy his name was Eric, made contact with a 12-year-old Polk County boy on MySpace and arranged a meeting at a Lake Wales movie theater. The two met two weeks ago, police said, recognized each other because they had exchanged information about what they would be wearing. The boy, beforehand, told Sepp he was just 12 years old, police said.

Sepp met the youth at a Regal Cinema at Eagle Ridge Mall in Lake Wales on March 15, police said. Inside the theater, Sepp and the boy fondled each other and kissed, police said.

The boy told his mother what had happened and his mother called police on March 21. Police asked the youth, whose name was not released because of the nature of the allegations, to contact Sepp again and arrange a second meeting at the same location.

The two met Wednesday at the movie theater, but this time the youth was accompanied by seven undercover officers. They posed as ticket takers and theater goers, police said. The undercover officers arrested the teacher when he showed up about 4 p.m., after the youth identified him.

Sepp was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation.

Records show Sepp recently moved to Florida from Washington State. He does not have a criminal record in either state. Telephone calls to the Bellingham, Wash., home of his parents were not returned.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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