| Ex-Teacher Gets 15 Years' Probation Cristopher Ellis pleads guilty to harmful material, molestation charges. By Jason Geary The Ledger BARTOW -- A former Mulberry High School math teacher received 15 years' probation Friday for molesting a 15-year-old student and sending a naked picture of himself to a 16-year-old student. Christopher Robert Ellis, 29, pleaded guilty to lewd molestation and transmitting harmful material to a minor. He could have been sentenced to 20 years in prison. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dropped a second charge of lewd molestation. Ellis was required to give up his teaching license and must register as a sexual offender. His lawyer, Al Smith, said Ellis now lives in Hillsborough County. Prosecutors said they agreed to the deal after speaking with Ellis' victims and their families, who did not want to put the girls through a trial. Ellis chose not to speak at Friday's hearing. However, before his Oct. 15 arrest, he told detectives with the Polk County Sheriff's Office that what he did was "just absolutely stupid." He said he wanted to cooperate with authorities, according to a transcript of his taped statement. For weeks, Ellis said he talked with a 15-year-old girl. They flirted back and forth. In January 2004, while doing a sound check for a school production of "Grease," Ellis said he and the girl fondled each other in the school auditorium before her mother came to pick her up. He also told detectives he used a Web camera to send a nude image of himself to a 16-year-old girl in November or December 2003, according to an arrest report. The teacher promised another student 30 extra credit points if she sent him an an e-mail of another girl's breasts, according to an investigative report. She sent the photos to Ellis but never received extra credit, according to the report. Ellis, who made $31,055 as a teacher, resigned Oct. 31 -little more than a year after he was hired, according to Polk County School Board records. Jason Geary can be reached at jason.geary@theledger.com or 863-533-9079. Ledger reporter Julia Crouse contributed to this report. http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050723/NEWS/507230384/1004/R SS&source=RSS |