On October 18, a Florida court dropped four of five felony charges after a lawsuit filed against a teacher charged with sexually abusing a teenage student was dropped due to a clause in the school’s enrollment contract. Last November, MinistryWatch reported on the case of Harriet Sugg, a teacher at First Academy in Orlando, Florida. A former student claimed Sugg sexually abused her and that the school failed to report the crimes. The student, now in her twenties and referred to as “Jane Doe” to protect her identity, came forward in 2022. Last year, she sued Sugg, First...

According to the lawsuit, the school employed Suggs from around July 2003 until around May 2016. The suit alleges that Sugg met the victim in September 2014 a few weeks after the victim began to attend the school and Sugg quickly “ingratiated herself into Jane Doe’s life under the guise of faith-based mentorship.” The victim met Sugg after the teacher spoke to the school’s upper-school students during chapel about her own experience as a victim of child sexual abuse and her willingness to help any students with similar struggles, according to court documents. The lawsuit alleges that Sugg used her...