Ex-Jupiter teacher gets 3 years in prison for sex with minor; student sues school board

Daniel Norment, the former Independence Middle School teacher accused of coercing a 16-year-old girl into having sex in a classroom closet, will serve three years in prison.

Norment, 41, left a Palm Beach County courtroom in handcuffs Monday morning, after accepting two "best interest" guilty pleas for one count of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of offense against students by authority figures — both second-degree felonies.

As part of the plea, Norment does not admit guilt. He agrees, however, that a guilty plea is in his best interest. Judge Jeffrey Gillen also sentenced Norment to four years of probation after his three-year prison sentence.

Battery charges: Ex-Pahokee High teacher pleads guilty to battery charges of touching, choking female students

Another relationship with students: Florida strips former Palm Beach County teacher of her license after relationship with student

Child porn charges: Cyber tip led to Palm Beach Gardens teacher's arrest on child porn charges, records show

The former Jupiter teacher agreed to have no contact with minors, to complete a sex offender treatment program and to not work at schools.

Student invited back to school to spend time in Norment's classroom, lawsuit says

The plea hearing came exactly one month after his former student filed a lawsuit against the Palm Beach County School District and the school board, accusing them of "allowing and enabling" the longtime teacher to "groom and then sexually assault her" three years ago.

Norment told the student she was "mature for her age," the lawsuit states, noting that he gave the student excessive attention and high grades for "doing nothing" in the eighth grade class.

He then exchanged cell phone numbers with the girl when she left for high school. Knowing she needed community service hours to graduate, Norment invited her back to Independence Middle to spend time alone in his classroom, after school hours, to clean and help with paperwork, the lawsuit continues.

"Norment's actions toward Jane Doe reflect a textbook case of 'grooming,' a tactic employed by pedophiles to cultivate an inappropriate relationship with a minor so that the pedophile can manipulate, exploit, and abuse the minor," it states.

And in September 2019, Norment took the former student — then 16 years old — into a classroom closet, where he "sexually assaulted her," according to the lawsuit, which argues that school leaders ignored red flags and failed to intervene before or after the assault, the suit says.

Related: Jupiter teacher arrested on charges of unlawful sexual activity with former student

Subscriber Exclusive: Teacher: 'I'm going to be up in a tower in a clown suit with a rifle.' 8 years later, she's fired

More school news: Were any of these books banned by Palm Beach County schools? Here's what they reviewed and why

The teacher "had been reprimanded for multiple ethical violations involving school children" at Independence Middle School, police reported, noting that all three assistant principals "were aware of some inappropriate non-criminal behavior by Norment."

The police report said that Norment would take students into his classroom closet to "counsel" them and that school employees witnessed former students walk through campus in "inappropriate clothing" when they visited the teacher after school.

Norment, police said, "was instructed to not have any youth visitors on campus." The school also removed Norment from his coaching position with the girls' basketball team after he let students change their clothes inside his classroom.

"The very same classroom where he sexually assaulted Jane Doe just a few months later," the lawsuit notes.

Want more education news? Sign up for ourExtra Credit weekly newsletter, delivered every Friday!

About one week after the 2019 assault in Norment's middle school classroom, administrators at the girl's high school called her into an office and asked if anything happened between her and the teacher.

Embarrassed and scared, she denied that anything took place.

"The very fact that the Assistant Principal requested the meeting — and then instructed Jane Doe to have no further contact with Norment even after she denied the sexual allegations — shows that the School Board knew of the improper relationship Norment had cultivated with Jane Doe on School Board property over multiple years," the lawsuit states.

The girl waited about 2½ years to file a report with authorities. It bothered her every day, and she eventually spoke up in hopes of keeping Norment away from children, according to the police report.

The district reassigned Norment to a position away from students in March, as the police investigation began. He was arrested in early May and his employment in Palm Beach County schools officially ended July 1, the school district confirmed.

Norment started as a teacher at Palm Springs Middle School in 2012. He transferred to Independence Middle in 2016.

Giuseppe Sabella is an education reporter at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at gsabella@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism and subscribe today. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Former Jupiter teacher sent to prison for 3 years after sex with minor plea