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Naples, Florida. The Band Director for Gulf Coast High School, Robert Hamberg, resigned after being accused of having sex with a student.
The police report describes the relationship between Hamberg and the high school freshman as flirting within the classroom at first. The relationship escalated and the two became closer than they should. Hamberg disclosed his marital problems with the student and she confessed her strong feelings towards him.
Eventually, the student-teacher relationship went way past inappropriate. Hamberg and the freshman student started having sex within Gulf Coast High School and at his home.
He is out on $175,000 bond and awaiting trial on seven charges of Lewd & Lascivious Battery on a child between the ages of 12 and 15. If convicted on all seven charges, Hamberg faces a maximum sentence of 105 years in prison.
Another music teacher, Tara Buonamici, walked in on Hamberg and the freshman in what she describes as a "compromising situation." Buonamici took several days to make her decision to go to the authorities on her suspicions of the illegal student/teacher relationship. Robert Hamberg was later arrested and resigned his post as Gulf Coast High School's Band Director. His next hearing date is set for August 2009.
Hamberg is not the only Collier County Band Director to be accused of a sexual relationship with a student in recent years. In 2007, Barron Collier High School Band Director, Jeffrey Mark Branson, began his prison sentence for a sexual offense on a minor child conviction. Police accused him of having sex with a 12-year old boy. Branson entered into a plea agreement with the State after being charged with seven counts of Lewd Battery and Lewd Molestation. He is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for his crimes.
Florida Law defines the crime of Lewd & Lascivious Battery as sex with a child over the age of 12, but under the age of 16. Consent is not a factor in this crime inasmuch as the age of consent in the State of Florida is 16 years old. Lewd & Lascivious Molestation is the crime of inappropriately touching the private area of a child under the age of 12. Both crimes are considered serious felony charges.
Teachers and members of the school system are held in the highest regard as to the safety of our children. Being charged with a serious crime has nothing to do with employment, status, race, creed or religion. No one is exempt when accused of wrong doing. If you find yourself charged with a sexual offense, contact an experienced attorney who will lead you through the complex Court system and dissect the serious charges against you. Charges of this magnitude will have serious consequences for all of the parties involved. Contact a knowledgeable attorney for the proper guidance.
