Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 8, 1990 TAG: 9006080240
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
John N. Moore, 43, was fined $250 and received a 30-day suspended jail sentence at a hearing in Roanoke General District Court.
Moore resigned from his position at Salem High shortly after the charges were filed in April, Principal John Hall said Thursday.
He was charged with soliciting to commit sodomy - an offense that stemmed from an encounter with a male undercover police detective at an adult book and video store on Williamson Road.
The case is one of the first solicitation arrests to be made this year under a new ordinance adopted by Roanoke City Council.
The ordinance, aimed at prostitutes and others who solicit for sex in public, makes it a crime to offer or accept offers for sodomy, adultery or fornication on streets, sidewalks or other public places. Payment does not have to be a part of the offer, and it was not in Moore's case.
In asking for a fine and suspended jail term, 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.
Although a former commonwealth's attorney has complained that the law infringes on individual rights, Caldwell said authorities can use discretion on when and where to enforce it.
Police targeted the store where Moore was arrested after customers complained of unwanted sexual advances by other patrons, Caldwell said.
"In none of these cases have we had two consenting adults," he said. "We're not going to be staking out bars."
Moore, of Rocky Mount, taught an advanced-placement English class at Salem High that gave students college credit for passing the accelerated course.
His resignation from Salem High was voluntary, Hall said. 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.
by CNB