ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A judge on Wednesday revoked bond for a former assistant teacher at Chappell Schools who’s accused of molesting a 4-year-old child at the private preschool’s St. Johns County campus.
Before Wednesday’s bond hearing, Anthony Guadalupe, 18, of St. Johns County, was already out of jail on $100,000 bond following his arrest July 19 on a felony charge of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child younger than 12 years old.
According to an arrest report, a child told her father that Guadalupe put a toy in her underwear at the school on Longleaf Pine Parkway. The report shows the school reviewed surveillance footage with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and saw the incident was captured on video. In the video, according to the report, Guadalupe could be seen putting his hands under the girl’s dress while in a classroom at the Chappell Schools’ Longleaf Campus.
The State Attorney’s Office last week filed a motion to hold Guadalupe on no bond, and a bond hearing was set for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Prosecutors wrote in the motion that their request came after the State Attorney’s Office on July 21 obtained surveillance video of the incident. Prosecutors state Guadalupe had already had his original bond set at $100,000 the day prior to them receiving the footage.
A prosecutor in court Wednesday argued that after Guadalupe was arrested, the original judge who set his bond never saw the video evidence against him and should have ordered Guadalupe to remain in custody without bond.
“This defendant is an absolute danger to this community, specifically the children of St. Johns County,” the prosecutor said. “This defendant committed this crime while being supervised. He was supervised, judge. He was on video. He was on a video that was being recorded and live streamed to parents that they could log in and look at.”
Prior to the hearing, the prosecution showed the judge the video, and then during the hearing, the prosecutor told the judge, ”You saw what he did with that child.” She then told the judge, “There are no words to summarize what you see in that video.”
“Judge, he was so brazen in that video,” the prosecutor said. “There were other kids crawling on him, hanging on his arm while he’s committing this crime.”
Guadalupe’s defense attorney countered the prosecution by saying the video shows the girl in front of Guadalupe, but it doesn’t show his hands.
“You can see there’s a child in front of Mr. Guadalupe. You can’t tell where the hand is or what it is touching,” the defense attorney said. “So from a factual standpoint, that proof is not there.”
The tension was thick in the courtroom. Guadalupe’s parents, along with his supporters, were on one side of the room, and the victim’s family and supporters were on the other side. Both sides were very emotional.
The hearing included character testimony from Guadalupe’s parents and supporters.
“He has a great character. He’s a loving kid. He’s never done anything against the law,” said Jessica Guadalupe, his mother.
Margie Santiago, a family friend, said: “He’s very childlike, very innocent. He’s always around children and always wanted to be a big brother.”
“He’s an influential young man. My boys interact with him by playing video games and when they see each other every single week,” said Nathaniel Castillo, a family friend.
Despite the character witness testimony in court, the judge ruled in favor of the prosecution to have Guadalupe taken back into custody and held without bond. Guadalupe was booked back into the St. Johns County jail shortly after 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to online court records.
If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and up to life in prison.
After the courtroom cleared, a minister who testified on Guadalupe’s behalf spoke with News4JAX about the judge’s decision.
“We pray for both sides — not only the Guadalupe family but the other family, as well,” Vidal Gonzalez said. “We just want the truth to come out, and whatever it is, we’re going to pray for both sides.”
Chappell Schools last week sent News4JAX the following statement confirming the arrest:
“At Chappell Schools, our top priority is the safety and wellbeing of the children in our care. Upon learning of a former employee’s alleged inappropriate actions with a student on July 18th, we immediately took steps to ensure the staff member did not have access to the school, both state and local authorities were notified and the St. John’s County Sheriff’s office arrested the former employee. We will continue to fully cooperate with all appropriate agencies as they conduct their investigations. As this is an on-going investigation, we cannot comment further, but as we have additional information we are able to share, we will be as transparent as possible and provide updates in a timely manner.”