Sentenced to 43 years in prison, but is out on bond while he appeals.
Mar 1, 2007 - Aaron Mohanlal, 39, an art teacher at New Renaissance Middle School, is on trial for sexual abuse of a boy that began when the victim was 12-years-old.
Prosecutors allege the sexual abuse went on for over a year. When the boy wished to break off ther elationship, Mohanlal created embarrassing fliers.
Update Apr 5 - Mohanlal was convicted in a jury trial of 13 felony counts, ranging from lewd or lascivious molestation to child abuse.
Sentencing will be Jun 14.
Last month -- after the fourth district employee this year was arrested and accused of sexual misconduct -- Broward school officials said they must scrutinize the district's hiring practices. They said they might add psychological or behavioral screenings.
SENTENCED (maybe) July 23, 2008 - Mohanlal was sentenced in June to 43 years in prison, but has yet to serve a day in jail. A judge ordered him released on post-conviction bond while his case is on appeal. The judge ordered Mohanlal to wear a GPS device, register as a sex offender and surrender his passport. CNN says the bond is unusual.
Post-conviction bonds are rarely given in criminal trials, but judges occasionally grant them if there was a procedural error during trial that would make a conviction reversal at the appellate level likely, legal experts say.Other students in Mohanlal's class testified that their teacher handed them fliers, with the boy's picture and phone number, that falsely accused the teen of having sex with animals. Caught on surveillance camera at a grocery store copying the fliers, prosecutors say Mohanlal had become a disturbed lover scorned when the boy entered high school and began rejecting his advances.
But there were no procedural mistakes during Mohanlal's trial, both prosecutor Anita White and defense attorney Steve Rossi said.
Under Florida statute, defendants without prior felonies are eligible for post-conviction bond unless they have committed first-degree murder or sexual battery. Mohanlal wasn't convicted of first-degree sexual battery. He was convicted of second- and third-degree felonies, and he had no prior felony record.
Last year, the boy's family won $300,000 from the school district after a civil claim that the district failed to protect the student.
IN JAIL - August 1 - A judge initially agreed to allow Mohanlal to post a $610,00 bond because he did not have any prior convictions and appeared to meet the conditions of his bond, which included securing almost half a million dollars in property.
But the state discovered that the defendant never met the conditions of his bond and there was not enough equity in those properties, meaning Mohanlal is a flight risk. The judge revoked his bond.
