Belleview teacher charged with molesting student

BELLEVIEW, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Belleview police arrested Belleview Elementary music teacher Kevin Tindall on Thursday morning after questioning him at their office.

It came after a worried parent phoned police last week to tell them Tindall inappropriately touched a male student at Belleview Elementary School.

“Mr. Tindall was immediately placed on administrative leave by the school district and escorted off school grounds by the SRO and the principal,” said Lt. Lawrence Bryan, Belleview Police.

It's not the first time Tindall has been in trouble. Tindall has been at Belleview Elementary since 2002. He was written-up in 2008 for inappropriately touching two male students.

According to the police report, he touched their chests, arms - and one also on his hips and thighs - in ways that made them uncomfortable. They say Tindall admitted to touching the boys' upper bodies, but only to provide "positive reinforcement" and not in a sexual way. He was never prosecuted criminally but did get a letter in his permanent file.

“It's considered a warning that should something else happen again, something more severe could happen,” said Kevin Christian, Marion County Schools spokesman.

The district says from then till now, Tindall seemed to have cleaned up his act.

“If there had been a concern, it would have been brought forward long before now and the district would've acted appropriately as it did then, as it will now,” Christian said.

Christian added that the system in-place for sounding the alarm about problem teachers worked.

“The parent contacting the SRO, contacting the principal, removing the teacher immediately, that's the standard process that protects students.”

Tindall was sent to the Marion County jail on $50,000 bond. He is on paid administrative leave until this investigation wraps up.