Florida private school principal arrested on abuse charge after sheriff's office reviews video

Austin L. Miller and Claire Thornton, USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read
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MARION COUNTY, Florida − A school principal with an alleged history of inappropriate behavior toward students has been arrested again in Ocala, Florida, after video footage showed him hitting and choking a student.

Dontay Akeem Prophet, principal of Destiny Leadership Academy, was arrested on charges of aggravated child abuse and false imprisonment of a child younger than 13. Officials said video footage from the school showed Prophet hitting and choking a student and twisting the student's ankle to prevent him from leaving a classroom.

Prophet was booked into the Marion County Jail around 3 a.m. Saturday, jail records show, and he's being held without bail.

Destiny Leadership Academy is a private school for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, according to the school's website.

A school administrator declined to comment on Prophet's arrest, citing the ongoing investigation. The Marion County Sheriff's Office public information office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Prophet's arrest last week was not the first time he's been accused of inappropriate behavior toward a child. In 2019, he was arrested on a charge of lewd molestation of a child, according to the Ocala StarBanner, part of the USA TODAY Network. He was convicted in 2023 on a lesser charge of attempt to commit interfering with child custody and was sentenced to probation, the StarBanner reported.

He violated the terms of his probation with several infractions, one of which was failure to report in 2023, according to court records. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail. Once he was released, probation was reinstated, records show.

Destiny Leadership Academy
Destiny Leadership Academy

Prophet worked for Marion County Public Schools until he resigned in May 2019, the StarBanner reported. First hired in 2009, Prophet was placed on administrative leave in February 2019 before resigning, school officials told the newspaper.

What does surveillance video show?

Marion County Sheriff's Office Deputy Ronald James Bailey said in a report his agency was contacted by Destiny Leadership Academy officials about a disturbance between Prophet and a student.

In the report, Bailey said surveillance video showed Prophet approaching the child, who had his head down on a desk.

Prophet tried to get the child's attention by poking and grabbing him, the report says. The student pulled away and fell, and the video then showed Prophet sitting on the child. In the video, Prophet holds the student in a chokehold and wraps his legs around him, preventing the child from leaving the room, according to the deputy's report.

The boy is reportedly seen on the video trying to leave multiple times; however, he was stopped by Prophet, who pinned him on the ground, the deputy's report says.

The video also showed Prophet grabbing the child's right ankle, twisting it, dropping his knee on the child's leg, slapping his face and hitting his head with a computer charger, according to the report.

Bailey interviewed the student, who confirmed there was an altercation between himself and Prophet, and said he was physically sore. The student declined to say anything else to the deputy, the report says.

According to Bailey, Prophet said he held the student down because he was afraid the student would harm himself.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Destiny Leadership Academy principal Dontay Akeem Prophet arrested