MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A former security guard at a Miami-Dade high school had nothing to say to Local 10 News as he bonded out of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center late Friday morning.
Johnathan Lee Coard, 35, was booked into TGK Wednesday after being accused of using his position to exploit a girl’s “vulnerability as an opportunity to get close to her and groom her.”
Coard worked at Felix Varela Senior High School, at 15255 SW 96th St., in The Hammocks.
Police said that “multiple students” went to the school’s principal in October out of concern for the victim, reporting that Coard had given the girl “multiple rides home,” kissed her and made sexually explicit comments.
Police said the pair started communicating after the girl had confided in Coard about relationship issues.
Authorities said he would also send the girl money for “food, snacks and random stuff.”
Coard, facing felony charges of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child under 16, offenses against students by authority figures and a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a child, had been given a $16,000 bond Thursday.
In a statement, a Miami-Dade Public Schools spokesperson said that the district is “deeply troubled by the disturbing allegations.”
“As soon as the claims surfaced, the employee was immediately removed from the school setting. A thorough investigation was conducted by the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department, resulting in his arrest, subsequent termination of his employment and preclusion from seeking future employment with the District,” the statement read. “Conduct such as the one this individual is accused of will not be tolerated.”
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