BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A high school teacher was arrested after deputies said the man tried to lure a student for sex, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said that 64-year-old Timothy Liscum of Melbourne, a teacher at Satellite High School, traveled to a location in Brevard County expecting to meet a child.
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Liscum was taken into custody on Sunday afternoon and is facing charges of using a computer to solicit a child and traveling to meet after use of a computer to lure a child, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said Liscum has been employed with Brevard County schools for the last 30 years.
“I think it’s crazy that someone who’s trusted with children would do that,” Brooke Burnley, a sophomore at Satellite High School, said Monday. “I think it’s just gross, disgusting.”
The investigation began earlier this week after the Satellite Beach Police Department requested assistance with the investigation, the release states.
The complaint said that Liscum had been communicating through an electronic device with one of the students at the school. The student became concerned about the content of the conversations and told another student, as well as a teacher, deputies said.
Deputies said that teacher reported the information to school administrators, who contacted the student’s parent, according to the release.
Deputies said an agent with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Sexual Offender Registration and Tracking (SORT) unit took over the online identity of the child and during subsequent conversations, Liscum solicited the student to meet for the “purpose of having sexual relations,” according to the release.
The school board said in a statement on Monday:
“I feel really bad for the people who were close with him,” Burnley said. “There were a lot of students who were really close with him and really trusted him.”
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey posted a message on Facebook that read in part, “It is disgusting that monsters like this are out there where they can prey upon our children, but thankfully the student, her friend, and our teacher, in this case, all did exactly what should be done to bring this individual to justice!! A huge thank you to the teacher for being such a trusted person to the students, the members of the Satellite Beach Police Department for their efforts in the investigation, and of course Agent Stake, for all they did to get this individual behind bars!!”
Liscum is currently being held at the Brevard County Jail on $70,000 bond.
Deputies said the investigation is ongoing and they are trying to determine if Liscum may have victimized any other children.
Anyone who may have information about Liscum is asked to please call agent Aja Stake at 321-633-8410 or CRIMELINE at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477).
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