Social Worker, Teacher Both Knew High-Schooler Was 'Online Dating' a Predator
Social Worker, Teacher Both Knew High-Schooler Was 'Online Dating' a Predator
But Nobody Told Her Parents. Why Not?
Interview with a Clay County sheriff’s deputy on May 4, 2021:
During the interview the victim disclosed her former swim coach has been sending her numerous lewd images of his bare erect penis via Snapchat/cellular phone. The victim said she met the suspect when she was 15, and he was aware of her age, and also coached her at a local school.
The victim stated she began to secretly online date the defendant, and the conversations quickly turned sexual. The victim said from approximately July 2019 to February 2020 the defendant solicited her to produce child sexual abuse material, and she subsequently sent the images to him. The victim stated she sent numerous lewd images of her nude body to the defendant.
The victim said the images were of her bare breast and buttocks. The victim stated during these communications the defendant also sent her numerous images of his bare erect penis. The defendant would also tell her what he wanted to do with her sexually and asked about having sexual intercourse with her.
The next paragraph in the police interview quotes former swim coach Mitchell Bentz saying things so vile to her that they cannot be repeated here.
Bentz was 24 at the time. In May 2021, he was arrested on charges of soliciting minors for sex involving both the girl from the swim club and another female high school student.
Bentz was arrested for his attempted seduction of the other girl first. Examination of arrest reports suggests that the Sheriff’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit may have learned about the girl that is the subject of this story because of messages and images from her found on Bentz’s phone after his first arrest.
Benz is currently serving two 46-month sentences in state prison. He will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
‘Dating’
If you were the girl’s mother and father, you might have been interested to know that your daughter was engaging in “online dating” with an adult male. If your daughter had described her relationship with this man to her counselor or a school teacher, you might think one of them would tell you, or at least tell somebody.
Nope. When the girl did confide details of her relationship with Bentz, no one notified anyone. And it is educational to hear why no one is to blame, according to lawyers for the people and institutions involved.
The girl, now 18, filed suit in August 2022 against three institutions and one individual, alleging each had a duty under state law to report her exploitation and each had failed to do so. She is seeking “an amount over $100,000” for “pain and suffering, mental anguish and the expense of future therapy and medical care.”
The case looks to be in its final stages, having been whittled down based on points of law—some might say technicalities—while the underlying facts were never contested: The counselor and the teacher knew, and they didn’t report it.
The defendants are the Clay County School Board, St. Johns Country Day School, Community Behavioral Services of Orange Park and a licensed clinical social worker named April Howell, who worked for CBS.
There documents in the lawsuit do not suggest the victim was in counseling directly because of anything having to do with her online relationship with the coach, only that the counseling was underway during or after their interactions.
Finger-Pointing
The Clay County School Board was accused of negligence in connection with the teacher in whom the victim confided, Meghann Collier. It was not the schools fault, according to a pleading by school lawyers, the girl’s private counselor was actually to blame:
Ms. Howell was told all the necessary pertinent details about (the victim’s) relationship with Mr. Benz. Ms. Howell did not notify (the victim’s) parents, the school, Clay County School Board, the police, Division of Children and Families, or anyone. If Ms. Howell, as a mandatory reporter of abuse, had made the report, the parents and or authorities could have intervened and prevented further damage to (the victim).
Plus, the parents had an inkling that their daughter was talking to an adult male, according to lawyers for Clay Schools, but they did not take it seriously enough at the time to investigate. Because of that, the argument goes, the parents themselves were also to blame; they’re the ones that should have notified Clay Schools or St. Johns and other authorities about the interactions.
Bentz was a St. Johns employee coaching the swim team and the swim club. (St. Johns is a private school, but the club apparently accepts members from other schools in the county because the victim attended Fleming High not St. Johns.)
St. Johns, through its lawyers, denied it was to blame for Bentz’s behavior because Bentz was committing crimes, not acting within the scope of his job:
The general rule is that an employer cannot be held liable for the tortious or criminal acts of an employee unless they were committed during the course of the employment and to further a purpose or interest, however excessive or misguided, of the employer.
Community Behavioral Services, a for-profit psychotherapy practice, defended Howell’s failure to report, citing patient confidentiality and noting that Howell was not even obligated to try for a waiver under Florida law:
Based on the plain language of…Florida statutes, there is no basis to conclude that the legislature intended that there be a legal duty for a licensed clinical social worker to advise a patient to waive confidentiality so that the counselor could talk to the client’s parents about confidential information shared with the licensed clinical social worker.
CBS also argued that Howell was also forbidden by the same confidentiality rule to tell her bosses about the swim coach’s exploitation, and, because she did not tell them, they had no way of knowing, and therefore CBS had nothing to report.
In one of its pleadings, CBS referred to the relationship euphemistically, calling it a “romantic relationship.”
April Howell’s response to the lawsuit was was a lot like that of her former employer, CBS. And, even assuming that circumstances had justified a felony charge for failing to report child sex abuse, Howell’s lawyer argued that there is no provision under Florida law for a victim to seek compensation through a civil action like this one.
April Howell was not charged with any crime, and she now works as a counselor in Jacksonville.
The only actor in this story who has admitted being at fault was teacher Meghann Collier, who is not a defendant. The lawsuit referred to a police interview, during which she made the admission:
When interviewed by law enforcement regarding her knowledge of the exploitation, Collier stated that she was aware of the “romanic undertone” of the relationship between (the victim) and Bentz, and she was further aware of their ages. Collier stated that she knew she should have reported the exploitation but failed to do so.
There is no record of Collier being charged either.
No Settlements
Earlier this year, the victim’s lawyers proposed settlements to drop the case against two defendants, Clay Schools and St. Johns. Apparently these offers were rejected, because the lawsuit has continued. Last week, defendants asked Judge Steven Withington to issue a summary judgement dismissing the case against them without going to trial. Should that motion fail, the next event is a mediation conference scheduled for November 6.
Whether the suit is won, lost or settled, no one has disputed the core allegation. Adults in positions of responsibility knew a teenage girl was in danger, and they kept quiet about it.
Parents beware.