FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A science teacher at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale is facing serious charges after he was arrested Friday for having sex with a minor, officials said.
According to the arrest report, Venorrice Wells gave a girl a ride home from the Boys and Girls Club of Broward, in Fort Lauderdale, where they both worked, on July 11.
The report noted that they stopped at a parking lot in Lauderdale Lakes, where Wells engaged in sexual acts with her.
Wells, 31, told detectives that the girl told him she was 19. He faces felony charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, 16 or 17 years old, and being an authority figure soliciting/engaging in sexual conduct with a student.
“I didn’t know anything about the situation, but to hear that, that’s crazy,” said a parent at the Boys and Girls Club of Broward.
Wells has taught science to students in grades six through 12 at Dillard High School since August 2015.
Cathleen Brennan, a spokeswoman for Broward County Public Schools, said Wells will be reassigned to a job away from students starting Aug. 14, when the school year begins, pending the outcome of the investigation.
“The district’s special investigative unit is working with local law enforcement regarding its investigation,” Brennan said.
Brian Quail, President and CEO of Boys and Girls Club of Broward County, released a statement in relation to the minor employee’s case.
“Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County’s goal is to keep young people safe and we have a zero tolerance policy which mandates incident reporting and cooperating with authorities.”
Wells has since been suspended from the organization.
Sexual assault on a minor wasn’t Wells’ first run-in with the law. In 2013, he was arrested in Margate for cruelty toward a child and domestic battery by strangulation, among other charges.
During a court hearing on Saturday, Broward County Judge Joseph Murphy III ordered Wells not to contact the minor, set a $60,000 bond and ordered Wells to wear a GPS monitor anklet upon his release from jail Sunday.
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