COOPER CITY, Fla. – Christopher Falzone appeared to be a well-liked third-grade teacher at the Renaissance Charter School at Cooper City.
But the 35-year-old was arrested this week on a slew of lewd and lascivious charges for alleged acts involving a young girl at a summer camp where he was a counselor.
"Exactly the same way she described it is the way my daughter described it five years ago on the police report," a South Florida woman told Local 10 News. "It's the same exact incident again."
The woman, who did not want to be identified, told Local 10 News over the phone Wednesday that her daughter attended Sheridan Hills Elementary School in Hollywood in 2013 when Falzone was her teacher.
She said her then-9-year-old told her that Falzone repeatedly inappropriately hugged and touched her.
"I tried to do everything I could to make sure justice was served, and they told me there wasn't enough evidence that my daughter got groped 20 to 30 times," the woman said.
The incident was investigated by Hollywood police, who took statements from at least four young girls.
But as shown in a closeout memo from the Broward County State Attorney's Office, the case was declined for prosecution because there was no reasonable likelihood of a conviction.
"It was extremely frustrating, but I knew that somehow, some way this guy was going to do it again, and I feel bad that it had to happen again for something to be done," the mother said.
The woman's daughter, now 15, is well aware of the trouble her former teacher is now in.
According to authorities, Falzone placed his hands inside a girl's shorts on numerous occasions over the summer while working as a counselor at Camp Live Oak in Fort Lauderdale.
He is also accused of sending the girl inappropriate message on Facebook Messenger.
"I'm gonna try to do everything I can -- inform anyone I can that this guy does not need to be out of prison," the woman said. "He needs to stay there. He's touched a lot of girls and he can't get away with it."
A Broward County Public Schools spokeswoman confirmed that Falzone previously worked as a substitute teacher for the district from October 2008 to October 2013.