LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Former principal John Currie bonded out of the Lake County jail late Wednesday night. He is a longtime Central Florida educator who students nicknamed "Mr. Hugs." Currie is charged with sexual assault on a former first grader who is now in his thirties.
"MR. HUGS" BONDS OUT: See Images | Raw Video CURRIE BOOKED: See Images | Watch Video VIDEO REPORT: Former Principal Facing Sex Charges
Currie was not required to see a judge after being booked. He was in jail for about five hours, paid his $25,000 bond and left. WFTV questioned Currie as he left the Lake County jail.
"I did not do these things, just leave me alone," said Currie as he walked through a throng of reporters and news cameras.
The former Lake County principal, accused of sexually assaulting a student, was taken to the Lake County jail Thursday. John Jack Currie, also known as "Mr. Hugs," worked in Minneola when the alleged crime happened, but he had been living and teaching in Tennessee before his arrest.
Currie was returned to Central Florida late Thursday afternoon. He was taken to the Lake County jail to face serious allegations that he raped a first grader while he was a principal in Lake County more than 25 years ago.
Lake County sheriff's investigators say the alleged victim came forward last year and claimed Currie sexually assaulted him inside Minneola Elementary and Currie's Eustis home in 1984.
"He [the victim] told our investigators that apparently it was something he struggled with. He was embarrassed, but for whatever reason he came to terms with it and he went ahead and reported it," said Lt. John Herrell, Lake County Sheriff's Office.
"Are you a child molester?" WFTV reporter Kenneth Moton asked Currie as he was led into jail Thursday.
"No, I am not," he said.
Currie got his nickname of Mr. Hugs in the 1990s, because he said hugging children gave them better self esteem. That hands-on approach got him in trouble when he was accused of molesting several boys at schools in Lake and Osceola counties, but Currie was never prosecuted because either the former students changed their story or refused to testify.
Friends of Currie say he is innocent, and say he is a nationally honored educator.
Currie was arrested two weeks ago in Knoxville, Tennessee where he's been a professor at a small college for the past 10 years.
Currie will have to return to Lake County in September to attend a hearing in the case.
Previous Stories: August 19, 2010: "Mr. Hugs" Brought To Florida On Sex Charges
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