{"id":1775,"date":"2026-06-13T20:31:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T20:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1775"},"modified":"2026-06-13T20:31:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T20:31:22","slug":"miami-dade-private-school-ignored-signs-of-predatory-security-guard-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1775","title":{"rendered":"Miami-Dade private school ignored signs of predatory security guard: lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>A 17-year-old girl has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after being sexually assaulted by a security guard at her Miami-Dade private school, according to a lawsuit filed last month in which her family is seeking $20 million in damages from the school and its security company.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1773\">Helicopter crash at North Perry Airport hospitalizes four people, police say<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The teen began attending My Life My Power Alpha International Preparatory Academy in January. The girl\u2019s mother enrolled her in the school after she had a dip in her grades and needed to bring up her credits to ensure she could graduate on time, she said in an interview with the Miami Herald. The school has campuses in Liberty City and Cutler Bay.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe school was referred through a principal at her actual home school, so I had trust in the staff, the teachers, and everyone there,\u201d said the girl\u2019s mother, whom the Herald is not naming in order to protect the identity of the teen.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>According to the lawsuit, the teen was immediately warned by students about Slyvester James, a 24-year-old uniformed security officer at the school, because of his \u201cinappropriate and predatory behavior toward female students.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>She heeded those warnings initially, according to the lawsuit, but James engaged in a \u201ccalculated pattern of grooming behavior\u201d focused on her. He repeatedly approached her, gave her his phone number and sent her intimate texts, the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>He complimented her outfits and became jealous when she talked with boys, the complaint reads.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Together, those messages created \u201cartificial emotional intimacy\u201d and made \u201ca vulnerable minor feel singled out and valued by an older male authority figure,\u201d the lawsuit said. The alleged \u201cgrooming campaign\u201d escalated to the point where the girl snuck out of her home and rode with James in his car.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Then, James engaged in a sexual act with the 17-year-old.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The girl was \u201cwas alone, seventeen years old, in a dark vehicle at night with an adult male who had cultivated weeks of emotional control over her and who was displaying anger,\u201d the complaint reads.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The teen\u2019s aunt, whom her mother describes as like a second mom to her daughter, said she could immediately tell something was wrong and went straight to law enforcement after learning what happened to her niece.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>James has since been charged by the State Attorney\u2019s Office with a first-degree felony in committing unlawful sexual activity with a specified minor as an authority figure and offenses against students by an authority figure. He has pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1771\">Kendrick Meek Jr. says he\u2019s ready to build his own legacy with congressional run<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit, filed on May 26, names James, My Life My Power Alpha International Preparatory Academy, its parent company Foundation Academies and Whitelight Security as defendants in a case alleging sexual battery on behalf of James and \u201cinstitutional negligence and a betrayal of trust\u201d on behalf of the school and security company.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The complaint argues that the school and security company should have known about James\u2019 inappropriate behavior as it was \u201ccommon knowledge among the student body\u201d and that they failed to protect the teen.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was entirely preventable,\u201d said attorney Bernardo Pimentel II, who represents the family. The \u201cschool cannot claim to be protecting children while ignoring the warning signs that place them in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Neither the school nor the security company responded to the Herald\u2019s requests for comment on Friday. Their attorneys\u2019 information was not available on Miami-Dade County\u2019s Clerk of Courts website, nor was information for James\u2019 attorney.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The teen has been unable to return to school since the alleged assault and is now being homeschooled.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe has trouble sleeping because she has bad dreams in regards to things that transpired,\u201d the girl\u2019s mother said, adding that she now has suicidal thoughts.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The teen, who has dreams of becoming a lawyer, is \u201cnot even the same kid now,\u201d her mother said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy daughter\u2019s usually a social butterfly, and she\u2019s been literally isolated in her room ever since this incident. She\u2019s even eating in her room, she doesn\u2019t come out for too much of anything,\u201d the mother said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1770\">Their 6-year-old dies in crash after driver flees cop over tints. Parents sue<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Miami-Dade family seeks $20 million after a 17-year-old student at My Life My Power was allegedly groomed and sexually assaulted by a school security guard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Miami-Dade private school ignored signs of predatory security guard: lawsuit - Florida Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1775\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Miami-Dade private school ignored signs of predatory security guard: lawsuit - Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Miami-Dade family seeks $20 million after a 17-year-old student at My Life My Power was allegedly groomed and sexually assaulted by a school security guard.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1775\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Florida Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-13T20:31:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f\"},\"headline\":\"Miami-Dade private school ignored signs of predatory security guard: lawsuit\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-13T20:31:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775\"},\"wordCount\":723,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/37d0eddf56d1fd77cafafa61dade12af.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775\",\"name\":\"Miami-Dade private school ignored signs of predatory security guard: lawsuit - Florida Moving Chronicle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/37d0eddf56d1fd77cafafa61dade12af.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-13T20:31:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/482f60b6a0b7cc84b37966d78057552f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=1775#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/37d0eddf56d1fd77cafafa61dade12af.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/floridamovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/37d0eddf56d1fd77cafafa61dade12af.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674,\"caption\":\"Gavel Photo by Getty ImagesThis is a stock image downloaded from Getty Images. 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