Friday's Internet Edition, August 29, 2008.
arrested
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| •C.D. Moss• |
News editor - Officers from the Copperas Cove Police Department recently arrested a Copperas Cove High School student during school hours.
Clarence “C.D.” Moss, 19, was arrested on charges of sexual assault. The alleged victim is a 14 year old female and the offense occurred from November to December 2002.
Moss, a football standout this past season, signed a football scholarship with Southern Methodist University in February.
When Moss was arrested on the sexual assault charges, school personnel pulled him out of class and into the hallway, where he was taken into custody by police officers. Charges were filed against Moss based on a complaint by Investigator Lori Hix of the CCPD.
Under Texas criminal law, people must be 17 to give legal consent to sex. Having sex with a child 13 or younger is considered an aggravated sexual assault or statutory rape, which is a felony.
It carries prison time and a lifetime labeling as a sex offender. Other laws also apply.
The 14-year-old victim is pregnant, said Austin, and a paternity test is pending. When asked if Moss was being investigated for other charges, Austin had no comment.
After Moss’ arrest, Justice of the Peace John Quinn set bond at $10,000 and Moss bonded out.
In a separate matter, a Cove police officer called SMU to inform officials there of Moss’ behavior, but not about the sexual assault charges. The police officer was not aware of the investigation at the time of the call, said Lieutenant Daniel Austin, CCPD spokesperson.
Moss was making threats to school staff and driving recklessly, said Austin, and the police officer tried to get Moss to improve his behavior by stating he would call SMU and inform them of Moss’ behavior.
When Moss continued to misbehave, the officer followed through with his statement. Moss did not lose his scholarship based on the officer’s phone call, said Austin.
The possibility of the phone call was used as leverage by the police officer to get Moss on the right track. “It was a controversial act on the officer’s part,” Austin said. “The bottom line is, we want people to act responsibly.”
A spokesman in the SMU sports information department said he would check on Moss’ scholarship status, but had not called back as of Tuesday night.