Orlando, FL asked in Criminal Law and Sexual Harassment for Florida

Q: What type of case is this? (sexual harassment/battery?)

Teacher, roughly 50 years old, touched me inappropriately (Put hand on my thigh, tickled me, pressed crotch area against my behind area) throughout the course of 3 months. Also made comments about fighting my boyfriend for me (jokingly), and other small kinds of flirty comments. I am 18. I only asked him to stop once but I was afraid most of the time. He also made a comment when I was 17 about "learning to avoid lawsuits." But all the touching happened when I was 18. Edit: There is already a detective on this case and the detective has said there are charges as long as my witnesses check out. I reported incidents when they happened. Just trying to look in advance on what type of case this is.

2 Lawyer Answers
Bruce Alexander Minnick
Bruce Alexander Minnick
Answered
  • Tallahassee, FL
  • Licensed in Florida

A: Based upon the facts as stated by you, there does not appear to be nearly enough salient operative facts upon which to bring criminal charges. These same facts may be enough to present a prima facie case of sexual harassment, but IMPO the defense could easily defeat the claim after investigating all the facts, good and bad. If you are truly "scared" then report these events when they happen not many months later.

Stephen Arnold Black
Stephen Arnold Black
Answered
  • Orlando, FL
  • Licensed in Florida

A: You may have a lawsuit against him personally as well as the school if they failed to screen his background sufficiently enough to see if he had a history of sexually deviant behavior...Was your school public or private?

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