SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – An appeals court Thursday overturned the conviction of a Seminole County JROTC instructor who was arrested in 2018 on allegations of having sex with a student.
A three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeal agreed with Bryan Teet’s arguments that he was not in a position of “custodial authority” at the time he allegedly had sex with a 17-year-old girl.
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Teet, who was acquitted by a jury on other charges, had argued a circuit judge should have rejected a charge of “sexual battery on a child over 12 years of age but less than 18 years of age by a person in familial or custodial authority,” according to the ruling.
Teet was accused of having sex with the student at her grandmother’s home after driving her home from a JROTC practice.
Teet contended that he was not in a position of custodial authority, saying “he did not hold that authority because he had not been granted parental permission to drive the victim home, enter, and remain in her residence; and the offense did not occur on school property or in connection with an extra-curricular activity,” according to Thursday’s ruling.
The panel agreed that Teet did not hold custodial authority and said prosecutors could have pursued other charges against him. “This result was self-inflicted by the state’s decision to charge Teet as it did,” said the 13-page ruling, written by Judge Jay Cohen and joined by Chief Judge Brian Lambert and Judge Kerry Evander.
“There were other offenses available that did not involve the element of custodial authority. Additionally, the state chose not to request a jury instruction on any lesser included charges other than simple battery.”
A 2018 news release from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said Teet was an instructor at Lake Howell High School.