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Newly Hired School Coach Acquitted Of Exposing Self

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Hernando Today

Published: April 21, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - The man slated to be Hernando High School's next boys basketball coach did not expose himself to an undercover police officer.

A jury came to that conclusion after a daylong trial Monday that dissected the day Antonio Vasquez was arrested in an undercover sting at Brooksville's "Bud" McKethan Park in July.

The case hinged entirely on Officer Shawn Terry's testimony that Vasquez, 48, flashed him in the public bathroom and made a lewd gesture.

Vasquez's attorneys spent the day poking holes in Terry's account and questioning his integrity as a Brooksville police officer.

This should be a "trial by jury and fact … not baseless accusations," attorney Sean Kelley said.

Most of their case was built in closing arguments. They pounced on recording equipment that "mysteriously" became garbled at the time the alleged crime occurred. Discrepancies among the testimony of three officers involved were highlighted.

Kelley capped his case by proposing that Terry made the whole thing up for his own gain.

Prosecutor Erin Corcoran Daly charged through their arguments and sought to give the jurors an idea of who the law was designed to protect.

"Think about who uses the park," she said, referring to the facility bordered by Veterans Avenue and Broad Street. "There are baseball fields and golf courses."

When the jury delivered its verdict after about an hour of deliberation, Daly was disappointed, in part because "this is an ongoing problem at that park."

The summer sting was set up in 2007 because of ongoing complaints from the public about illicit homosexual activity occurring in the bathroom.

Terry staged outside the bathroom while Sgt. Randy Orman and Lt. Rick Hankins kept watch from an unmarked pickup parked across the street.

Terry posed as a recently-transferred UPS worker looking for friends to strike up conversations. When Vasquez entered the bathroom, he tried the same line and the two hit it off.

After a few minutes, the two set off on a walk on the concrete walking path that winds about two miles around the park. Their conversation revolved around sports and Vasquez introduced himself as a teacher in the community. At one point, Vasquez warned that there were frequently cops around the park, Terry testified.

At the time, Vasquez had been hired two months prior as the boys basketball coach at his alma mater, Hernando High School. Vasquez had spent nearly 10 years coaching girls basketball at Pasco County High School and most recently worked as an administrative assistant at Land O'Lakes High School.

As the walk neared the bathroom again, Terry complained that his leg hurt and suggested they return to the restroom. Inside the building, Vasquez looked around and said sometimes there were cameras in the bathroom, then exposed himself, Terry testified.

Before the jury's verdict, attorney Larry Disparti said the outcome of the trial would likely decide whether Vasquez got his teaching job back or not.

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