Five school staffers charged with failing to report abuse of 15-year-old girl

A Florida high school principal and four staffers were arrested after allegedly failing to report the alleged sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl to the state.

Palm Beach Central High School Principal Darren Edgecomb, 58, was booked Monday night for his alleged failure, police said.

Charges were also filed against assistant principal Dan Snider, 49, assistant principal Nereyda Garcia, 37, chorus teacher Scott Houchins, 53, and school behavioral therapist Priscilla Carter.

Charging documents revealed that school administrators were alerted to the abuse on June 16, 2021, when a friend of the victim wrote a letter alleging that the 15-year-old had been assaulted by two students, CBS 12 reports.

The letter said the victim “has had many problems with guys and has been sexually assaulted by two of them,” with the friend claiming that they had witnessed the suspects “not taking no for an answer.”

The letter added that the victim was suffering anxiety and panic attacks as a result of the assault, which was leading her to commit “self-harm.”

The letter was received by Houchins and seen by at least five staff members, none of whom reported the case to the Department of Children and Families, which is mandated by state law, according to the affidavit.

The decision for the school not to report the case allegedly occurred more than a month later during a meeting on August 19, 2021, when Garcia said that the student’s parents should be the ones to tell the state, according to the charging documents.

Investigators noted that one staff member claimed to have conducted his own investigation and did not believe any assault occurred, but the school still decided to discipline one of the boys.

When officials questioned the employee as to why the student was punished despite his probe, the staffer simply replied that he was “aware of how it looks.”

All five educators were charged with one count of failure to report sexual abuse and were ordered to stay away from the victim, witnesses and students.

Houchins, Garcia and Snider had their bond set at $3,000, with Carter and Edgecomb’s bond set at $10,000 due to their alleged efforts to downplay the incident.

Edgecomb was notably removed from the campus in 2019 after he and former assistant principal Laurence Greenberg were accused of improperly changing students’ grades.

The School District of Palm Beach County said in a statement that all the employees have been reassigned to positions with no contact with students.

“The allegations involving students occurred off of school property and over a weekend. However, no matter when or where any alleged assault against a student occurs, our policy aligns with the law, which requires all personnel to report suspected abuse,” the district added.

Representatives for the accused staffers could not be immediately reached for comment.