JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Chris Bacca, 26, a teacher at Windy Hill Elementary School, a youth minister at a local church. The last person you'd expect to be accused of sexually abusing a child.
"Nice guy. Real nice guy. Very easy to talk to," said a neighbor we're calling Neighbor #1.
But since his arrest Tuesday, his neighbors are starting to come forward saying they had suspicions about Bacca. They don't want to show their faces, but they're willing to tell their stories.
Neighbor #1 said, "I was going out to my car one day, and I seen him with a group of kids."
Neighbor #2 said, "I saw him have them jump into his arms. And he'd rough house with them."
They say they knew the kids weren't Bacca's. But they say children often spent the night at his house. They played at the pool at their apartment complex. And Neighbor #1 said he saw an inappropriate kiss between Bacca and a child.
"Kind of like a kiss your dad would give you, at the age of 6. But that was kind of weird," said Neighbor #2. "It wasn't like a sexual thing. But it was a weird thing."
Action News wanted to know, if the neighbors suspected something suspicious, are they legally obligated to report it? We took our question to local attorney Randy Reep. He said, "The average citizen has never had an obligation to intervene in the criminal activities of another person."
We asked, "At what point does a neighbor have the responsibility? If they saw the abuse? Would they have to come forward?" Reep replied, "There's proposed legislation that may very well go into affect that's going to put it on the average citizen to do that."
Reep says the laws may change in the future. But right now, those neighbors had no legal obligation to report Bacca's behavior. A moral obligation is a different story.
Neighbor #2 said, "I'm also angry with myself for not keeping my eyes more open. And maybe being a nosy neighbor."
Neighbor #1 said, "We all were thinking it. But he's such a nice guy, we gave him the benefit of the doubt."
