Chesapeake School Board candidate arrested on sexual battery charge
A candidate running for the Chesapeake School Board was arrested Tuesday on a sexual battery charge stemming from an alleged incident at a fundraising event for a local Congresswoman in March, according to court documents.
Bradley Edward Moore, 39, was named in a criminal complaint filed by Amber Bowmer, a campaign manager for another school board candidate, Jeremy Rodden, stating that Moore had been at a fundraising event at Rodden’s home for Rep. Elaine Luria on March 27 when the reported incident occurred.
Moore could not be reached for comment.
In the complaint, Bowmer stated that she had coordinated the fundraiser and approached Moore to point out a couple of women who wanted to speak to all the candidates there when he “aggressively groped my behind.”
In a phone interview Friday, Bowmer said that she had put her hand on Moore’s shoulder to get his attention.
She said he then put his arm around her, rubbed his hand against her body and grabbed her behind. She added that neither of them said anything, though Moore “kind of smirked” before she walked away. She described feeling “shocked” afterward.
“It’s unacceptable behavior under any circumstance,” Bowmer said.
Bowmer said she was later told to file a report on the incident. The criminal complaint was filed on the Monday before the arrest. The sexual battery charge is a misdemeanor.
Bowmer said she had met Moore in passing at school board meetings and, earlier this year when candidates for the school board were announced, she reached out to them to offer her assistance as a campaign manager. This includes Moore, though she said he did not respond.
Moore, a married father of two, was raised in Norfolk and lives in Chesapeake’s South Norfolk neighborhood, according to his campaign website. He graduated from Old Dominion University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history. He now works as a legal assistant for Virginia Beach law firm Wolcott Rivers Gates.
Moore is one of more than a dozen candidates running for school board in the Nov. 8 election.
He is due in court on Monday.
Kelsey Kendall, kelsey.kendall@virginiamedia.com
