'You tainted my life': Collier County teacher Hector Manley guilty of molesting 20 children
Kate Cimini* This article has been updated to correct the age of the youngest child abused (5) and date of the first abuse (2015).
Hector Manley, the Collier County elementary school teacher who was arrested three years ago and charged with molesting or assaulting students, was found guilty Friday on 20 counts on lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12.
Manley pleaded no contest to the charges, and Judge Joseph G. Foster pronounced him guilty.
Manley admitted to abusing 20 children as young as age 5 between Aug. 15, 2015, and March 1, 2019. Children told investigators he molested them on the soccer field during practices of the team he ran, in school hallways and in his classroom. A double amputee, he often molested them after having them sit on his lap while in his wheelchair.
Foster sentenced Manley to 25 years in prison, with credit for the 1,052 days he spent in county jail. He was assessed about $24,000 in court fees.
His attorney, Mike Hopkins, declined comment, as did Manley's adoptive parents, Don and Karen Manley, who were in court.
Manley pleaded guilty to all lewd and lascivious counts. Three sexual battery charges were dismissed.
Manley had to agree to be pronounced a sexual predator by the court. He also agreed to lifetime registration as a sex offender and, after release, probation with GPS monitoring. He will not be allowed contact with any of the survivors of his abuse.
Hector Manley, whom the Manleys adopted from El Salvador, will be allowed to visit his birth family in El Salvador once he is released from prison, Foster said. He must report to the Department of Corrections immediately upon return to the U.S.
Prosecutor Deborah Cunningham and a Spanish-language interpreter read three letters, one from a child survivor and two from parents of child survivors.
"You tainted my life," wrote the child survivor. "I never thought that a person could hurt another person like that."
No parents or child survivors were in the courtroom. More than a dozen victim and child advocates were present.
Cunningham told the judge that the survivors’ families had agreed to the plea deal because they didn’t want to put their children through the trauma of testifying.
Collier County School District had no comment on Manley's plea deal.
"As is known, the District terminated Mr. Manley immediately and turned the matter over promptly to the CCSO at that time," wrote executive communications director Chad Oliver in an email to the Naples Daily News / The News-Press.
Manley taught first and second grade at Parkside Elementary
Manley worked as a first- and second-grade teacher as well as support staff at Parkside Elementary School.
He was arrested March 1, 2019, on charges of child molestation and sexual battery. He was charged with 21 felony charges for groping 21 children under 12 years of age and two felony charges of sexual battery of two children under 12.
After three initial accusations against Manley, he was arrested but released on bail. Within a week, 10 more children came forward and Manley turned himself in to authorities.
The scope of the case grew even more after that.
He was fired within a week of his arrest and has spent the intervening years in the Naples Jail Center. His plea hearing was initially scheduled for November and postponed to January.
Parkside serves Naples Manor, a community in East Naples made up of 65% Hispanic or Latino households. Almost 90% of people in Naples Manor speak a language other than English at home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Half the student population is enrolled in the English language learning program, and 96% of all students come from economically disadvantaged households.
Parents speak out:‘It’s not right’: Parents frustrated with Collier schools' communication about ex-Parkside teacher accused of molesting 20 children
Previous coverage: Former Parkside Elementary School teacher pleads not guilty to additional molestation and sexual battery charges
Collier schools in 2021: From COVID-19 protocols to court cases, things to watch this year
Our 2019 coverage:
- Parkside Elementary teacher arrested on molestation charges
- Six more children accuse former teacher Hector Manley of molestation
- 13 children accuse ex-teacher in East Naples of molestation or sexual battery
- Twentieth child accuses former Parkside Elementary teacher of molestation
- Former Parkside Elementary teacher charged with additional counts of molestation
- School district fires East Naples teacher arrested on molestation charges
- Parkside Elementary elects school advisory council; sex abuse case not discussed
Kate Cimini is an investigative journalist covering Florida. Share your story at (239) 207-936 or email kcimini@gannett.com.