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<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#373030"><strong>Teacher at a Florida based private charter school is jailed for 40 years for raping 14 year-old student he groomed for sex </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#373030"><strong><strong>Joseph Mejia,</strong></strong> was arrested <strong>after girl&#8217;s mother found explicit texts he&#8217;d sent her</strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#373030"><strong>Mejia, 39, raped the child at least four times, prosecutors said </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#373030"><strong>Mejia who was a teacher at Gulf Coast Charter Academy South in Naples, Florida sent victim dozens of explicit messages</strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#373030"><strong>&#8216;He pulled me out of school and tore me away from friends I&#8217;d grown to love. Everyone stood by him too. I was a wh**re. I was the one who&#8217;d had sex with a teacher,&#8217; the 14-year-old told the court in her victim impact statement</strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#373030"><strong>Investigators combed through hordes of explicit texts sent between Mejia and the child, and deduced he&#8217;d raped teenager at least four times </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#373030"><strong>Girl&#8217;s mom found sexts and contacted school, who called cops</strong></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Joseph-Mejia-4.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-382156" width="846" height="659"/><figcaption><strong>Joseph Mejia, 39, is seen during his trial before Collier Circuit Judge Joseph Foster. The victim read a nearly 5-minute victim impact statement before sentencing, detailing how Mejia gained her trust before turning their relationship sexual. he was jailed 40 years for raping the 14-year-old student</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A teacher at a private Charter school in Naples, has been jailed for 40 years for raping a 14 year-old student who made a statement his sentencing hearing, that he&#8217;d made her feel like a &#8216;wh**e&#8217;. <br>Joseph Mejia, 39, was hit with prison term of four decades at a court in Naples, Florida, on Monday after being convicted of four counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a victim between the ages of 12 and 16. <br>Investigators combed through hordes of explicit texts sent between Mejia and the child, and deduced he&#8217;d raped teenager at least four times. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Gulf-Coast-Charter-Academy-South-in-Naples-Florida-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-382152" width="846" height="387"/><figcaption><strong>Gulf Coast Charter Academy South is a public school, but it is not part of Collier County&#8217;s public school. The school immediately fired Joseph Mejia and alerted authorities when the victim&#8217;s mother found the teacher exchanged sexually explicit images with her daughter</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He worked as a technology teacher at Gulf Coast Charter Academy South, but the school is not part of Collier County&#8217;s public schools.<br>The incident came to daylight in April of 2019 after the victim&#8217;s mother found sexually explicit messages exchanged between the teacher and her daughter. <br>The school immediately fired Mejia and contacted the local police department about the incident. He was then arrested. <br>Court documents showed the victim had trusted him &#8216;with her life&#8217; and told of how Mejia was like a guidance counselor to her, before taking advantage of his position to abuse the girl. </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="alignleft size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Joseph-Mejia-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-382146"/><figcaption><strong>Mejia exchanged thousands of sexually explicit images with the student, raped her four times</strong></figcaption></figure></div>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mejia and his victim exchanged thousands of sexually explicit images in April of 2019. <br>Investigation by authorities concluded that the suspect had raped the victim a minimum of four times around the county. <br>The victim made a public statement during the trial too. <br>&#8216;Speaking up about Mejia raping me was one of the best choices I&#8217;ve ever made. It didn&#8217;t always seem that way though,&#8217; she said. <br>&#8216;He pulled me out of school and tore me away from friends I&#8217;d grown to love. Everyone stood by him too. I was a wh**re. I was the one who&#8217;d had sex with a teacher.&#8217; <br>Collier Circuit Judge Joseph Foster found Mejia guilty on four counts of lewd or lascivious battery engaging in sexual activity with a victim between the ages of 12 and 16<br>Joseph Mejia was heard saying he felt &#8216;Very regretful. I’ve never done anything like this before in my life … I plea for mercy in regards to my sentence&#8217; during his trial.<br>Before sentencing, the victim read a nearly 5-minute victim impact statement before sentencing, detailing how Mejia gained her trust before turning their relationship sexual<br>The sheer volume of text messages and content was enough testimony for the judge to make a swift decision against pleas made by the suspect and his mother. <br>WINK News reported Mejia&#8217;s mother saying &#8216;God says forgive us! If you want to be forgiven.&#8217; <br>He was also heard saying he felt &#8216;Very regretful. I&#8217;ve never done anything like this before in my life … I plea for mercy in regards to my sentence.&#8217;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Joseph-Mejia-sentencing-3.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-382148" width="861" height="392"/><figcaption><strong>&#8216;Forgiveness is between God and your son and God and the victim and her family and that&#8217;s not for me to grant or deny in any way shape or form in this courtroom,&#8217; Judge Foster said, as he found Mejia guilty on four counts of lewd or lascivious battery engaging in sexual activity with a minor </strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Collier County Circuit Judge Joseph Foster gave them no chance to prevent him from announcing his verdict though.<br>&#8216;Forgiveness is between God and your son and God and the victim and her family and that&#8217;s not for me to grant or deny in any way shape or form in this courtroom,&#8217; He said. <br>Mejia was found guilty of four counts of lewd or lascivious battery after a five-day jury trial. Each count equals to twenty years in jail which means he will have to serve 40 years in prison. <br>In Florida, sexual intercourse with someone who is younger than the age of consent &#8211; 18 &#8211; is considered statutory rape.<br>Mejia was also ordered no to have any sort of contract with either the victim or her family. </p>

