Man jailed, accused of inappropriately touching children for third time talks to WFTV

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Clovis Moss is in the Orange County Jail, accused of inappropriately touching a child. It's the third time he's been locked up on similar charges.

His latest arrest comes just a month after a judge ordered previous charges be dropped.

WFTV's Renee Stoll spoke with Moss, who maintains he's innocent. He said he's been labeled as a sex offender.

"People look at me like, 'Hey that's you, the one that's a child molester. Ain't that you?'" said Moss.

Even though Moss has been arrested three times in the last four years on accusations of touching underage children, his picture isn't on Florida's website for sexual offenders. He's never been convicted.

Moss was found not guilty of child molestation in 2009.

In 2011 he was charged with molesting a 5-year-old girl, but the state couldn't get a witness to cooperate in time. So last month a judge ordered the charges be dropped, to protect Moss's right to a speedy trial.

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said Moss has benefited from the legal system in an unusual way.

"It's a rare instance that a defendant now wins his case based upon a speedy trial," said Sheaffer.

Moss claims he's facing charges again because his community already convicted him.

He described a confrontation with a father in his neighborhood who was upset over his release.

"'In my eyes you're not acquitted,' he said. 'In my eyes you touched my daughter,'" Moss said, quoting the father. "'What my daughter going to do is put you back in jail and try this one more time.'"

While Moss said he's innocent, some wonder why the justice system allowed him free on his previous charge.

"It's just one of those situations where the court had no choice," said Sheaffer.

WFTV