California conductor is arrested

California conductor is arrested

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norman lebrecht

August 18, 2018

Christopher Florio, 39, music teacher at Harker Upper School and conductor of the California Youth Symphony in Palo Alto, has been arrested on suspicion of internet crimes against children.

Report here.

Comments

  • Sharon says:

    Palo Alto is the home of Stanford University and is a Silicon Valley place–many of the kids have parents who are wealthy and well connected. Harker is a private school, equivalent to a public school in England; I assume for wealthy kids.

    Also most kids in a youth orchestra are middle class or frequently higher since their families are able to afford the instruments and lessons to get them into an orchestra. They will make sure this guy is investigated thoroughly and if warranted prosecuted.

    If this guy is a full time music teacher at an upper school he should be a state licensed teacher under a conduct code. If the charges are true it’s hard to believe that the guy could be so stupid to do something that will undoubtedly lead to license revocation

    Even if the charges cannot be proven or are false his career, certainly his career with kids, is probably finished since no one would be willing to take a chance and hire him.

    If he was falsely accused it’s a real shame. With “me too” the innocent are sometimes hung along with the guilty.

    • Me! says:

      What are you talking about- he was arrested so he is being prosecuted; he communicated via social media with the student sexually so that is pretty provable, and teachers (a honey job for pedophiles) routinely risk their careers and jail for illegal sexual contact with students. And the socioeconomic class/wealth of the students isn’t really relevant (pedophiles work at tony private/public schools and poor schools in poor neighborhoods)- the classic SD response post to news of (other??) pedophiles — questioning accusers, bemoaning loss to criminal, saying all taken too seriously versus dismissed as was done in pedophile’s heyday (with priests, teachers, incest, family members etc (no one will believe you, be careful to protect his career…)

      • Saxon Broken says:

        Err…being arrested does not mean he will be prosecuted. And being prosecuted does not mean he is guilty (that is something that the prosecution need to establish in court, where he will be given the chance to defend himself).

    • Robert Levine says:

      Harper is quite a distance from Palo Alto, which has high schools that people are desperate for their children to attend. And note that Florio is not the music director of CYS (my old youth orchestra). Most such institutions have several conductors for different feeder orchestras.

  • anon says:

    “internet crimes”

    well, everything is communicated, sent and received, through the internet, so just about every crime today is also an internet crime, just as many crimes in the past automatically became federal crimes because they involved the US postal service that crossed state lines…

    The underlying crime is the real crime… regardless of the technology of communications

    today, if Trump is ever to be prosecuted for any of his crimes, they will surely begin with his tweets sent over the internet….

  • Conducting Feminista says:

    More good reason why men should NOT be conductors and while conducting should be an all women field.

    • Stuart says:

      Yes, no female teacher has ever been accused of sexual misbehavior with one of their students…

    • Edgar says:

      Thus Spake Conducting Feminista, adding her thunderous voice to the deafening chorus of countless Congregations of the Doctrine of the Faith aka. Inquisitions, of which the Roman Catholic emanation is by all and every means not the only severe one.

      Disclosure: I am a male.

      Am I to be put to the stake now?

    • Alan says:

      Again I ask you, please, give up this tired “joke”.
      We’ve all gotten your point (which does have a certain merit), but no one who comes here wants any longer to read your repetitive, humourless posts.
      Please?

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