Carl Mosher, a former physical education teacher St.
Gregory's Catholic school in Phoenix, was in Maricopa County Superior Court this morning where he pleaded guilty to charges that he had sex with one of his 14-year-old students...in his office...at the school.
Mosher initially was charged with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor when he was arrested in February. This morning, he pleaded guilty to one count of sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of attempted sexual conduct with a minor.
We spoke with some of the parents at the school following Mosher's arrest. They were outraged not only with Mosher but with school administrators, as well, for how they handled the incident (more on that below).
According to court records obtained by New Times, after the
victim's mother (who also is a teacher at St. Gregory's) had gone to
police with the allegations that Mosher had sex with her daughter, she
called Mosher -- who met the victim at a Catholic church and became a
"close family
friend" -- to try and get him to admit to having sex with her daughter.
During the call, Mosher admitted to having sexual intercourse with the
girl -- as well as performing oral sex on her -- in his office at the school, where the girl is an eighth-grade student.
According to the Phoenix Police Department, the relationship between
Mosher and the girl began in December of 2010, when the girl was just
13, and continued until Mosher's arrest in February.
One father of a student at St. Gregory's, who asked to not be identified, provided New Times with details about how the school handled
the allegations against Mosher -- which he says was far from satisfactory.
"Typical Catholic church," he says. "'We didn't see anything, we don't know anything'...that's how it's been"
The father says the first time parents heard about the allegations
against Mosher was Sunday February 6 -- two days after Mosher's arrest
-- and the school made the announcement via-a recorded emergency phone
message.
The problem with a phone blast about a pervert teacher who had sex with a child is that it's not always parents who pick up the
phone. The father says in several cases -- particularly with older
students -- students answered the phone. Because it's such a small
school, many of the students easily made the connection as to whom the victim
was.
As for Mosher's teaching ability, the father tells New Times that "Carl's a shitty teacher. He spends 90 percent of the day on the phone texting when
he was supposed to be teaching. Nobody thinks Carl is a good teacher."
The father goes on to say that Mosher's family is well-respected at the
school, and often serve as Eucharist ministers during church services.
Mosher's mother was a highly regarded teacher at the school, who, the
father says, is now "falling apart" after news of her son's crimes
broke.
The school was equally devastated by Mosher's crimes, the father says.
"We're a small school, without students we can't survive," he says. "The
hardest part as a parent is the trust factor. [Mosher] broke that trust
and there's no way to get it back."
Mosher's sentencing is scheduled for December 16, in front of Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Martin.
