For the first time, a mother is publicly talking about accusations that her daughter was sexually harassed and raped by her teacher while she was attending Brownsville Middle School in Miami. That teacher, Wendell Nibbs, was arrested and charged with sexual battery in 2017. He’s pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial in March.
“She suffers every day,” said the Miami mother who did not want to reveal her identity to protect her daughter.
“It’s still hurting until this day to see my child had to go through something that I thought the school was there to protect her,” she said during a news conference.
A November 2018 NBC 6 investigation found that the student is among at least seven former students who have accused Nibbs of sexual misconduct since 2004. The accusations ranged from inappropriate comments to molestation and rape.
This mother claims Nibbs had sex with her daughter repeatedly inside the school during school hours while she was in the 7th and 8th grade.
Nibbs’ attorney David Peckins didn’t want to comment on the allegations citing the pending criminal case. But Nibbs maintained his innocence during a 2017 interview with the Miami-Dade Schools Police.
“I never had any sexual encounter with any student,” he told detectives.
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The teen’s family has filed a civil lawsuit against the Miami-Dade School Board for allowing Nibbs to maintain his teaching position and have “unfettered access to young female students” at Brownsville Middle School “despite notice and knowledge of the repeated accusations” against him.
“The school board could’ve prevented this,” the student’s mother said.
Last year, NBC 6 Investigators reviewed Nibbs’ personnel file and found that the former teacher had a long history of complaints filed against him, some dating back to more than a decade ago.
School records show nearly all of the complaints were found to be unsubstantiated or with no probable cause. In 2016, the Miami woman’s daughter came forward and he was removed from the classroom - which ultimately led to his arrest and criminal charges.
In a statement, the district said they do not condone the actions alleged in the lawsuit and that they have "policies in place that prohibit this type of behavior." They declined to provide further comment citing pending litigation.
