Antrim County, MI teacher sentenced to 3-15 years

Frank Moser, a former Mancelona school board member and Fife Lake, MI teacher, was sentenced to 3-15 years in prison for 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct with his 17 year old student Monday, even though the student and her mother supported him at his formal sentencing.

Judge Thomas Power sentenced Moser to the sentence, stating that ""We don't send our daughters to school to have sex with a teacher," and that the sexual abuse was a "systematic violation of trust."

Moser taught English and social studies at the school and also served on the Mancelona Public Schools board until shortly after his arrest. He pleaded guilty to the charge in January, and investigators believe he had multiple sexual encounters with the girl last fall.

Moser spoke about the crime at his sentencing, stating that "I know [the victim and his former students] all faced untold embarrassment as a result of my actions ... I could never forgive myself for bringing everybody here today under these circumstances."

He also stated that he was a role model to his students, and instead of setting an example of what to do, he set an example of what NOT to do.

"I always wanted to be that teacher that served as that role model for those kids, and as I stand here today, I know I'm an example of the exact opposite."

The girl called Moser her "closest and dearest friend" and "the most caring person I've ever known," and begged Judge Thomas G. Power to give him a light sentence."He never hurt me," the girl, 17, said Tuesday morning. "If anything, he's helped me."

The girl's mother also spoke in Moser's defense, and deemed her daughter's conduct consensual.
"It takes two to tango, and that's what they did ... she knew full well what she was doing," she said.

However, the girl's father and prosecutor Charles Koop disagreed with the assessment that not much harm was done. The victim's father stated that the encounter badly damaged his relationship with his daughter and left him feeling rage, then hurt.

Prosecutor Koop stated that the victim and her mother's plea for leniency justified bad behavior and masked the predatory nature of Moser's interest.

"This is bad behavior," he said. "Unacceptable behavior."
Koop earlier referenced reams of e-mails, "thousands" of text messages and other correspondence between the girl and Moser.

"I clearly believe that this conduct was predatory," Koop said. "He was courting her with the sole purpose of becoming involved with her sexually."

Besides prison, Moser will be listed on the sex offender registry when he gets out, and will have to submit a DNA sample.