Child Molesters, Child Abuse Effects: Bulimia, Eating Disorders, Addictions

Though he will not have to register as a sex offender, Morrissey must surrender his teaching certificate and may not have contact with a minor without the supervision of an adult, Wells said.

During a 20-minute recess that followed more than two hours of jury selection, Wells said she offered Morrissey the option to plead guilty to child abuse, a third-degree felony that carries a lighter penalty.
When the trial began Monday, Morrissey's Tampa defense attorney, John A. Grant III, was prepared to defend the former teacher on second-degree felony charge of lewd and lascivious molestation, a second-degree felony that carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' jail time.

Morrissey changed his plea to guilty before Circuit Court Judge Jack Springstead.
Wells said the offer was intended to keep the 13-year-old girl from having to testify in front of the courtroom.

"This is basically to spare the child from having to testify and go through this," Wells said. "She's young."

Morrissey had rejected an earlier plea deal made last year when prosecutors offered him six years' jail time followed by sex offender probation, Wells said.
"We were able to negotiate it to child abuse," Wells said of today's agreement.

Morrissey was accused of inappropriately touching a 13-year-old female student and telling her he loved her last year. The teacher became acquainted with the girl in 2002, when she enrolled in his geography class.
An arrest report said the incident occurred on May 11, 2004, when the then-13-year-old girl and a friend went into his classroom to say hello to him.

The report said Morrissey, then a social studies teacher, began rubbing the girl's back. He then put his hands down the back of her pants and began rubbing her buttocks, according to police.

After she pulled away, the teacher approached her again, put his arms around her and began squeezing her breasts, the report said.

The girl left and went into another classroom. Morrissey followed her, the report said, and asked the teacher in the other classroom if he could speak with the girl.

He walked with her around campus, telling her that although he knew it was wrong, he loved her, investigators said.

When the Hernando County Sheriff's Office began investigating, Morrissey made a call from the sheriff's office on a recorded line.

Investigators said Morrissey referred to the girl "babe" several times and ended the call by saying he loved her.

The Hernando County School Board suspended the teacher after his arrest and eventually fired him in July of 2004.

Morrissey joined the county school system in 1977 as a teacher at Mitchell Black Elementary School. He joined the faculty at West Hernando Middle School in 1981, where he taught full-time and coached boys' and girls' sports.

During the 2002-2003 school year he received his full salary of $45,800.

Reporter Cliff Hightower and researcher Buddy Jaudon contributed to this report.
Reporter Paul Quinlan can be contacted at (352) 544-5289