MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A since-fired security monitor at a Miami-Dade County high school is facing two felony charges after school district police said he had an inappropriate relationship with a student.
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According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department, the victim was under 16. Police said Johnathan Lee Coard, 35, used the girl’s “vulnerability as an opportunity to get close to her and groom her.”
The school’s name was redacted from a report released by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, but in open court Thursday, it was revealed that Coard worked at Felix Varela Senior High School, located at 15255 SW 96th St. in The Hammocks.
The M-DSPD report states that “multiple students” went to the school’s principal in October out of concern for the victim, reporting that Coard had given the girl “multiple rides home,” kissed her and made sexually explicit comments.
“The students also reported that their friend was uncomfortable but did not want to report the incident because she would lose her ride home and get him into trouble, but she felt uncomfortable and that the situation was wrong,” an investigator wrote.
According to the report, the girl told investigators that Coard “would talk about choking me and wanting pictures and intimacy from me” and, during a ride home, “tried to get me to make out with him but I turned him down and I left his vehicle right after he kissed me.”
Police said the pair started communicating after the girl had confided in Coard about relationship issues.
Authorities said Coard would also send the girl money for “food, snacks and random stuff.”
In one instance, police said Coard told the girl, after sending her money, “I hope I receive some good treatment later.”
The report states that Coard turned himself in at M-DSPD headquarters Thursday and declined to speak with investigators.
Coard, facing felony charges of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child under 16, offenses against students by authority figures and a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a child.
Coard’s bond was listed as $16,000 in Miami-Dade jail records. As of around noon Thursday, he was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Local 10 News contacted Miami-Dade County Public Schools seeking comment on the arrest.
In a statement, a spokesperson said that the district is “deeply troubled by the disturbing allegations.”
“As soon as the claims surfaced, the employee was immediately removed from the school setting. A thorough investigation was conducted by the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department, resulting in his arrest, subsequent termination of his employment and preclusion from seeking future employment with the District,” the statement read. “Conduct such as the one this individual is accused of will not be tolerated.”