A former Anchorage school teacher convicted of molesting a boy in Washington state was sentenced Wednesday to more than four years in prison after a plea deal that spares him prosecution for allegedly molesting another child in Alaska, according to Snohomish County prosecutors.
Alex Mayo, 32, pleaded the equivalent of no contest to a felony count of sexually molesting a child that could have brought him life in prison, said deputy prosecuting attorney Laura Twitchell. As part of the deal, he got 51 months in prison and had three counts reduced to one for contacts with a 9-year-old boy in Washington.
The former elementary teacher was also facing four counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor in an Anchorage case filed in April. However, Mayo's lawyer brokered a deal with Alaska prosecutors to drop the charges against him here as part of the Washington plea, Twitchell said.
"The defense attorney asked me if I could make that part of the plea deal," Twitchell said. "I said, 'No, that's completely up to (Anchorage prosecutors).' "
The lawyer contacted prosecutors here and they agreed to drop the case if Mayo pleaded guilty, stopped teaching and avoided contact with the victim, Twitchell said. Mayo accepted those terms.
Calls to the Anchorage District Attorney's office were not returned Wednesday.
Anchorage police Sgt. Cindi Stanton, supervisor of the crimes against children unit, said the case here concerned several incidents involving one child whose family Mayo knew. She hadn't heard about the deal until Wednesday.
"I wasn't thrilled, and of course, I'm not a district attorney and I don't work on all the dealings," Stanton said. "It's just frustrating because I think the guy should have got more time, but at least he will have this on his record."
Mayo taught at Rilke Schule German charter school in Anchorage before the Anchorage School District learned of the charges. Also a former teacher at Muldoon Elementary, North Star Elementary and Village Charter School, Mayo was placed on paid leave in December. He was stripped of pay in January following his arraignment on the Washington charges, Superintendent Carol Comeau said. He resigned June 12.
There was no indication of improper conduct in Anchorage schools, she said.
Mayo will serve his time in the Washington prison system, where he will also undergo court-ordered treatment, Twitchell said.
Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com