“There’s only really one place you can go once you hit rock bottom, and that’s up,” Christopher Ford said. “And it feels really great to get the truth out.”

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A former St. Johns County teacher and coach arrested last summer, accused of inappropriate behavior at St. Augustine Beach is speaking out after his record was expunged. He’s working to clear his name and restore his reputation.

Christopher Ford was arrested Aug. 2 for alleged lewd behavior near young girls in the water.

The Bartram Trail High School teacher and head golf coach called it a misunderstanding during his typical summer routine of playing basketball then hitting the beach.

“Since I don’t work, I would go play basketball to cool down,” Ford said. “I’d go to the beach. Usually I would go to Vilano. This time I went to St. Augustine Beach. And just I don’t know, these out-of-towners thought they saw something that they didn’t and it’s a really unfortunate situation.”

Ford was removed from the classroom as the case moved forward.

“Seeing like how people are really quick to judge, quick to call you guilty, stuff like that, it was disheartening,” Ford said.

But the case unraveled when investigators found inconsistencies. Complainants gave contradictory statements from their initial reports.

The State Attorney’s Office filed a “no information,” meaning no formal charges were ever pursued.

“The case never even got to the point where it could be dropped,” Ford said. “It just never even transpired.”

On Feb. 26, a judge granted full expungement, erasing the arrest from his record.

Supporters including former students and parents stood by Ford throughout, saying they trusted the justice system to clear him, and it did.

“They said they knew that this was false,” he said. “They knew that the justice system would take it, obviously, it’s going to take a little bit of time, but it’s going to work out. It’s going to clear your name. And it did.”

Ford, who moved to the area four years ago after teaching three years in Colorado, said his passion for education started in eighth grade. Despite job hurdles and safety concerns seven months later, he’s determined to return to St. Johns County classrooms.

“I’ve known I wanted to be a teacher,” Ford said. “It’s my passion. And so moving forward, that’s like the main goal that I have is to get back into the classroom and just continue to support the students of St Johns County… I just feel like I have a lot to give and a lot more to give.”

And he hopes one day, he’ll be back on the back too. 

“I have not been back to the beach since then, which is really unfortunate because part of the reason I moved to Florida was to go to the beach,” Ford said. “But kind of moving forward with this sort of redemption story. Time to go back to the beach. There’s only really one place you can go once you hit rock bottom, and that’s up.”

St. Johns County School District said Ford is working at the district office as they wait on a resolution from the Florida Department of Education’s professional practices division. The department had not responded to First Coast News as of airtime.