This morning Joseph Mejia, 39, was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to 40 years in prison for
four counts of Lewd or Lascivious Battery. The former Collier County teacher was sentenced to
20 years on each count, with two to run consecutive and two to run concurrently. Mejia was
found guilty on May 10th following a trial in Naples.
Mejia was the technology teacher at a charter school and exchanged thousands of texts with a 14-
year-old student. Evidence at trial showed many of the texts were sexually explicit. The Collier
County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case and found that unlawful sexual activity had also
occurred in Collier County.
Assistant State Attorney Deborah Cunningham and Assistant State Attorney Steve Maresca
prosecuted the case.
Samantha Syoen
Communications Director
State Attorney’s Office
239-533-1125
ssyoen@sao.cjis20.org