DANVILLE, CA — A Contra Costa County jury found Nicholas Moseby, a former Danville biology teacher and cheer coach, guilty of two felony counts of committing a lewd act on a child and sending harmful material to a child. He was arrested in 2022 on charges of sending lewd videos of himself to a 14 and 15-year-old, and later charged with more sexual abuse crimes as more alleged victims came forward.
Moseby was also found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of annoying or molesting a minor, and one misdemeanor count of sexual battery, according to reports from the Bay Area News Group and Danville San Ramon. He was acquitted on one felony count of performing a lewd act on a child under 14, stemming from allegations that he had grinded against the backside of a 13-year-old girl, a claim he denied.
The jury could not reach a verdict on a felony charge of performing a lewd act on a 15-year-old girl. If they cannot come to a decision, prosecutors will decide whether or not to retry the count.
Moseby has been out on $200,000 bail since 2022, and Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Joni Hiramoto allowed him to remain free as he awaits sentencing.
Jurors were also asked to deliberate on four alleged aggravating factors:
Moseby was arrested in September 2022 on accusations of sending a nude photo of himself to the two girls, whom he had coached at the cheerleading school Norcal Elite in San Ramon.
Over the course of the trial, several students alleged a pattern of inappropriate behavior from Moseby, including groping, sexual remarks, and inappropriate messages. A Diablo Vista Middle School student even alleged that Moseby rubbed against her while he was substituting her physical education class and ejaculated onto her shirt, according to a report in Danville San Ramon. The shirt was analyzed by a forensics lab, which did not detect the presence of semen in preliminary testing and did not pass the item along for further testing. Still, Contra Costa County Deputy District Attorney Jessica Murad noted the possibility of a false negative.
Moseby admitted to sending the video, though he claimed he meant to send it to an adult webcam model, not the 15-year-old student, according to numerous reports. "I was horrified," he claimed.
Moseby was also involved in at least three criminal prosecutions before he was hired at SRVUSD. He was accused of providing alcohol to a teen in 2009, public intoxication in 2010, and answering an ad for a sex worker in 2015. He also admitted to engaging in a sexual relationship with a senior in high school in Arizona, though he has maintained that she was 18. He is also accused of sending another sexual photo to an 18-year-old student. Moseby said that he was not fired from any of his jobs in Arizona, according to Danville San Ramon.
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