KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A former elementary school substitute teacher facing more than a half-dozen counts of molestation says he's a descendant of a supernatural creature who was ordered to "collect the souls of the innocent."
- Ex-substitute teacher accused of molesting girls writes letter to judge
- Letter says he was ordered to "collect the souls of the innocent"
- PREVIOUSLY:
Syed Yaseen Asher wrote those words in a letter to an Osceola County judge dated last month.
He's been at the Osceola County Jail in Kissimmee since early last year, when he was arrested and charged with multiple counts of lewd and lascivious molestation.
In the letter addressed to Judge Wayne C. Wooten, Asher says he's descended from a supernatural being called a jinn and "was kidnapped from demons I already died before so I can not be killed."
Asher is accused of molesting six girls at Boggy Creek Elementary School. But he taught at other schools in Osceola County, and investigators have met with other children and parents who may have had contact with him while he worked as a substitute from December 2018 to February 2019. More charges were added in May 2019.
"He is not a threat to this community in any way," said Asher's attorney, Lyle Mazin, who said doctors were evaluating him prior to the letter being written.
"I think he is someone who has mental health issues that are akin to someone who has autism. He’s someone who is thinking at the level of a 12-year-old boy even though he is a 20-year-old boy," Mazin said. "We don’t just incarcerate people, we try to help them in our criminal justice system."
Mazin said his client is not pleading insanity but that his goal is to find a solution appropriate for someone who has mental health conditions.
"I hope that whatever happens in this case is a good resolution that we take into account. ... The victims, the defendant, and everybody reaches a resolution that is just."
A couple of months ago, Mazin rejected a plea deal for 12 years offered by the state. That's less than half of the 25-year maximum sentence for this type of offense.
Because his name appears as "Fnu Syedyaseen-Asher" in some court documents, that's how his name has been reported. But his attorney tells us it's Syed Yaseen Asher.
Asher's next hearing is in April.