Transgender sexual assault of girl in middle school bathroom never happened, BPS says
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Reports echoed by State Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, that a girl was sexually assaulted by a transgender student in a bathroom at Johnson Middle School are false, according to a Brevard Public Schools spokesman.
Reports of the alleged incident began circulating on Wednesday. On Thursday, Fine in a letter to Education Commissioner Manny Diaz referenced reports that an unnamed transgender student granted access to the girl's bathroom at the school had allegedly assaulted a female student sometime over the summer. The letter, provided to media around the state, asked Diaz to investigate the case.
"Over the past several days, multiple parents have approached me with a claim that over the summer, a boy, claiming to be a girl, taking advantage of the open bathrooms policy championed by School Board Chairwoman Misty Belford and fellow School Board Member Jennifer Jenkins, sexually assaulted a young girl in the girl’s restroom at Johnson Middle School," Fine wrote in the letter to Diaz.
“These parents — looking to protect their children — have made queries of the school district, including public records requests, to get to the bottom of what happened. Thus far, they have been stonewalled at every turn.”
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BPS spokesman Russell Bruhn said no such incident occurred. Students at Johnson Middle School over the summer were escorted by adults to the bathroom due to ongoing construction and because the students at the school came from all over the district and were unfamiliar with the layout, Bruhn said. He called the letter "a waste of the commissioner's time."
"It did not happen," Bruhn said.
Melbourne Police Department said it had no records of any sexual assaults at Johnson Middle School this summer.
Fine said he did not know exactly how the parents who came to him found out about the alleged assault.
“I think somebody told me they heard about it from a teacher at the school,” Fine said. “But no, and if you read my letter, I'm not saying it happened. I think given their history of covering up sexual assault, I think you just can't give them the benefit of the doubt.”
In his letter to Diaz, Fine brought up a 2020 letter from then-education commissioner Richard Cocoran admonishing the district for failing to report since-expunged allegations against Palm Bay Deputy Mayor Kenneth "Kenny" Johnson Jr. dating from 2015. Johnson, then an assistant football coach at Bayside High School, was removed from his position for having allegedly "sent a text message to a minor student that contained a grossly inappropriate picture," Corcoran wrote, and the district did not report the incident to the state as required by law.
Katie Delaney, a Brevard County parent and conservative activist, said she and other parents heard from a teacher that a girl had been sexually assaulted in the bathroom at Johnson Middle and later was convinced that she “misunderstood” the encounter and it was consensual. Bruhn called this account of events “an insult” and reiterated his earlier response.
"There's no evidence of anything happening inside of a bathroom at Johnson Middle School over the summer where there was a sexual assault," Bruhn said.
But the accusation seems to have gained the interest of at least one School Board member. Amy Kneessy, herself a former School Board member, said she requested any records of such an assault upon the recommendation of a current School Board member who she declined to name. So far, she has been told the principal has no knowledge of such an event, but has not ye.
But Bruhn said there are no records to share. "There's no record of law enforcement being contacted. There is no record of anybody at BPS being contacted about this. No parent or student. It is irresponsible to send this letter to the state. It's an attack that is unjustified. And it's an embarrassment for our state government." he said.
Jenkins said she contacted the school district after seeing Fine’s letter and was told the report was false. She accused Fine of using children for political gain.
“I am sick and tired of our local representative attacking his own constituents and residents of this county, and I am sick and tired of him attacking our most vulnerable population, our children, over it,” Jenkins said. “He needs to be held accountable for his actions.”
School Board member Katye Campbell said such an incident would require a Title IX investigation, and she had not heard of the allegations before being contacted by FLORIDA TODAY.
“It would come to the board members attention,” Campbell said. “So anything like that rises to the top levels and we know about those things. And no, we haven't. We don't know have any confirmation of any report or even an investigation or allegation on that.”
Bailey Gallion is the education reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallion at 321-242-3786 or bgallion@floridatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard Public Schools dismiss reports of transgender school assault
