Man quickly loses job as music professor after sex crime conviction in Douglas County
The day Carlos R. Espinosa-Machado was convicted of a sex crime involving a teenager here in Douglas County, I confirmed he was employed as an assistant professor of visual and performing arts and a symphony orchestra director at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina.
The next day, he was not.
“Carlos Espinosa-Machado’s year-long tenure at ECSU as an assistant professor of visual and performing arts ended Wednesday,” university spokesman Robert Kelly-Goss said, according to the Daily Advance of Elizabeth City. Kelly-Goss wouldn’t confirm whether Espinosa-Machado’s separation from the university was connected to his conviction in Kansas.
Last week Espinosa-Machado pleaded no contest to one count of indecent liberties with a child and one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor for illicit purposes, both felonies. According to prosecutors, the crimes allegedly occurred in April and May 2016 and involved a 15-year-old girl he met on social media prior to in-person encounters in Douglas County. Espinosa-Machado was charged in May 2016.
Espinosa-Machado was required to register as a sex offender for 25 years, effective immediately following his conviction, Judge Sally Pokorny told him during last week’s hearing. As of this morning, his profile had not yet appeared through name searches on the national or Kansas offender websites.
Espinosa-Machado’s sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 22.
— I’m the Journal-World’s public safety reporter. Reach me by email at sshepherd@ljworld.com or by phone at 785-832-7187. I’m also on Twitter, @saramarieshep.