He was ound guilty by a jury & sentenced to 4 years prison followed by 5 years probation. Christopher John Chepelevich assumed room temperature while serving the probationary period of his sentence. Christopher John Chepelevich, 43, teacher at North Nicholas High School [Lee County Public Schools], Cape Coral, Florida, internet child sex sting News Press: Lee County child predator sting results in 40 arrests (Oct 29 2012) North Nicholas High School teacher Christopher John Chepelevich, 43, was one of the 40 men arrested. Authorities say the Cape Coral teacher engaged in a sexually charged conversation via telephone with a person he believed to be 15 years old. After he was arrested, deputies said they found condoms, lubricant and marijuana in his vehicle. Fox 4: Lee County teacher among arrested in child Internet sex predator sting (Oct 29 2012) Chris Cheplevich, a teachers at North Nicholas High School, was arrested on Tuesday in an apparent attempt to have sex with a 14 year old boy. Tags:
Naples News: Lee deputies arrest 40 in online child sex sting (Oct 29 2012) Among those arrested were Christopher John Chepelevich, 43, a teacher at North Nicholas High School in Cape Coral ...
Marcos Island News: Lee County child predator sting results in 40 arrests (Oct 20 2012) North Nicholas High School teacher Christopher John Chepelevich, 43, was one of the 40 men arrested. Authorities say the Cape Coral teacher engaged in a sexually charged conversation via telephone with a person he believed to be 15 years old. After he was arrested, deputies said they found condoms, lubricant and marijuana in his vehicle.
Its a shame that the press can never get the story totally true. I talked to Mr.Chepelevich as a former student. He was in an ADULT CHAT Application and was talking to a 19 year old dude. He was not told by Paul how old he was until much later in the conversation. mr C believed this was a lie and just the normal role play that goes on in the chat rooms. Why would he believe that a 15 year old was in a site you had to be 18 to sign into? The police lied to gain access to the profile page, lied by letting him think the dude was 19 and then said he was 15. Come on what would any person think. Mr C went to meet paul at a local restaurant to see how truthful the dude was. Its not like everybody tells the truth in these profiles. Right He even told the cops if a 15 yr showed up he would have turned him down.OOOHHH but there was no victim only a cop lying to entrap him. Mr C has a great lawyer and will be found not guilty. A bunch of us will be going and if we have to testify on his behalf.
Remember these people are innocent until proven guilty. Mr Chepelevich is a former teacher of mine and I believe his innocence. I have talked to him about his arrest. He was in a Adult only chat app for the iphone and believed the dude was 19. It wasnt until much later in the texting that the dude said he was 15. Mr C beleived it was "role playing" by the dude. The cops lied to get onto the site, lied to create a profile,lied about the age at first. Mr C played along with the game. He ven told the cops if a 15 yr old showed up at the restaurant they were meeting he would have turned him down. Its a shame that a great teacher was drageed thru the mud by over zealous cops. He will be found not guilty and a lot of people will owe him an apology.Me and few students will be there to support him and even testify on his behalf....
It's more of a shame that some people seem not to understand what they're reading and writing. You don't think children under 18 patronize "adult" chatrooms? If that's what actually happened, he pretty much hung himself. If at any point during the conversation the "child" indicated that he was under age, John Chepelevich should have had enough sense immediately to end the conversation. According to you he not only didn't end the discussion, he proceeded to arrange a meeting and followed through by showing up. In many states just having a lewd conversation or exchange with a child in a criminal act. You don't even have to meet them. What's truly amazing is that teachers (who are supposed to be educating the rest of us) continue to be dumb enough to fall into these traps in the first place!
The chat room is full of role playing and it's a shame the police Go into adult chat rooms where adults are looking for other Adults. Mind games go on in there. There was no minor only The cop. Why aren't they going into minor oriented web sites? I hope this teacher gets off. The cops need to do their job And not create crimes to justify their demand for more funding This is no different then the Salem witch trial hysteria
Sorry, sweetie, but this guy actually showed up to meet the 14-year-old "adult". The cops were right where they should be.
If the cops are so concerned about sexual offenders why didn't they go into a minor oriented site: Facebook,xanga,yahoo chats where the predators really go. There is role playing fantasy in the gay dating app for his iPhone where minors don't go. I've looked it up and there are no minors in that app. I checked three times in the past week. Everyone claimed to be 19 or older. So why were the cops there? And they only arrested 2 guys. The other dude is 18 and was trying to hook up with another dude who was 18. Why did the cops wait until the end of the text to say his age? And the cop put a wink emoticon in that text. If u wink someone could take that as meaning a joke. The pics were of a 19 year old. Why would Mr C believe Paul was 15? He told me he met him at a public place for his safety. For all he knew it could have been a psycho killer. Ever hear of the craigslist killer? In Philly they had the craigslist rapist. Some dude would meet up with women from cl ads. Wine and dine them and then drug and rape them. What about the Las Vegas woman suing match.com after the guy she met stabbed her over 11 times and was convicted of killing his ex gf? You don't know who you are actually talking to on the Internet The Supreme Court even said you can't convict a person for thoughts(fantasy) look up the Reno decision. He is innocent and will be cleared. Maybe the police should go into the sites where minors are at and goto adult sites and entrap adults. The US does not and should never use a Virtue test. Thought police=Gestapo tactics
The dudes profile said he was 18. He joked with mr c about his fantasy of sleeping with a teacher. The cops entrapped an innocent man for a fantasy. Fort Myers is ranked in the top 10 cities with a high unsolved murder rate. Maybe they should be solving these crimes instead of creating them. The cops didn't find any proof in mr c's computer and email accounts showing predisposition to minors NO PROOF what so ever. What about the high crime rate in fort Myers. Those 20 cops doing this sting could have solved more murder cases but they don't get extra funding for solving murders. The police dept gets more money if they convict people in these stings and that's why they do it. For the money. The sting was 1 week before Election Day and sherriff Scott was running for re election. He won. Who would have think it
It's even more of a shame that some people are so closed minded they refuse to accept any other possibility that conflicts with their assumptions based on things that have yet to be proven. I won't say it never happens but it is exceedingly rare. Most "adult" areas like the casual encounters section of Craigslist, Backpage and the Grindr app Mr. Chepelevich was using either have extensive verification (Backpage) or are moderated by the users (Craigslist and Grindr). User moderation is surprisingly effective. According to the investigators that do these stings they have to make their ads and profiles as innocuous as possible by lying about the alleged age and what they are there for because other users will flag or report them in less than 5 minutes if they reveal too much information indicating a minor might be involved shutting down the operation. On top of that Project Safe Childhood has identified numerous sites at high risk for child predation and NONE of them are "adult" sites. Many are social networking sites where adults and children can intermingle and the number one sites for child predation are online multi-player gaming sites. Child predators go where the prey is and it isn't adult dating sites. If you honestly think a child predator is going to go through hundreds if not thousands of ads and profiles on adult sites hoping he will miraculously come across a child lying about their age when he can go to tagged.com or log into x-box live and find an actual child within seconds you have a serious disconnect with the reality of today's connected world and actually keeping children safe. The problem with this attitude is one has to immediately believe whatever one is told on the internet which from your attitude it seems like you do but many people do not. On a moderated adults only site why would Mr. Chepelevich not have a reasonable expectation he was dealing with another adult? Your argument would have merit if he had been on Tumblr but Grindr? Really? Why is it in these cases the only one allowed to lie and mislead is the cop and everything the defendant may have said is absolute gospel and anything he may or may not have absolute proof?
One of the charges was tossed out by the 2nd DCA for being double jeopardy. One more to go...lets see what he can use. #1 the fact his miranda rights were violated by the police who interrogated him without reading him his rights. A right ALL Americans are given. #2 the police violated their own protocols as laid out by the US Attorney General and then lied under oath...Hmmm police lying under oath. Thats a new one. Lol. #3 the police questioned him when he was under the influence of drugs. Another violation of Fl Supreme Court decisions. He has til jan of next yr to file his 3.800 or 3.850. He hired a great lawyer to smash the states case and then sue for wrongful incarceration..
From Lee County court records: Christopher John Chepelevich was found guilty on 16 October 2013 of Count #2 of 6 -- "obscene communication - travel to meet after use comput to lure child Statute: 847.0135(4a) Felony - Second Degree"-- by a jury and sentenced to 4 years in prison followed by 5 years of probation. Christopher John Chepelevich died on 10 June 2016. Christopher John Chepelevich died a felon, still serving the probationary portion of his sentence. After the death of Christopher John Chepelevich, the case file was re-opened and dismissed on account of his death. A copy of the online case file is attached as a zip file below. Their printing format is not particularly user-friendly. It's easier to read the file online.
From https://www.gallaheramericanfamilyfuneralhome.com/notices/Christopher-Chepelevich: Obituary: Christopher John Chepelevich, 48, of West Palm Beach, Florida passed away on June 10, 2017 in Fort Myers, Florida. Christopher is the son of Regina M. and John Chepelevich. He was originally born in Tampa, Florida on June 6, 1969. Christopher was a very well-educated and intelligent man, who enjoyed sharing his knowledge and wisdom with anyone interested in listening. He possessed a bachelors’ degree in education, and he held a position in the field of public education, where he worked as an educator. Chepelevich not only contributed his life to the teachings of the up and coming generations, but he also dedicated his life to protecting the citizens of the United States. Christopher served his country as a member of the United States Navy. He will never understand just how grateful we truly are for his service. He will always be remembered as a loving son, an honorable veteran, a beloved member of his family, and will truly be missed by all those who had the privilege of knowing him. Gallaher American Family Funeral Home has been entrusted with Christopher’s arrangements. We send our deepest condolences to his family during this difficult time.