Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 7, 1990 TAG: 9006070556
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
John N. Moore, 43, received a $250 fine and a suspended 30-day jail sentence at a hearing in Roanoke General District Court.
Moore resigned from his position at Salem High, where he taught an Advanced Placement English class that gave students college credit for passing the accelerated course, at about the same time the charges were filed, Principal John Hall said today.
Hall said that Moore's resignation was voluntary. He said he did not know if it was prompted by Moore's arrest on April 3.
"The timing would seem to coincide, but I couldn't say if it was related," he said.
Moore was charged with soliciting to commit sodomy - an offense that stemmed from an encounter with a male undercover police detective at a Roanoke bookstore.
Moore was one of the first people to be charged with solicitation under a new ordinance adopted earlier this year by Roanoke City Council.
The ordinance, aimed at dealing with the problem of prostitutes soliciting for sex on city streets, makes it a crime to offer or accept offers for sodomy, adultery or fornication on streets, sidewalks or other public places.
In asking for a fine and suspended jail term for Moore, Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said that has been the standard punishment in the handful of cases that have been prosecuted since the ordinance was adopted in February.
So far, everyone who has been charged under the new ordinance has pleaded guilty.
by CNB