HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A high school honors teacher remains behind bars Tuesday following inappropriate behavior with a student, and 7News has learned new details about his arrest.
The student first denied she had any contact with her teacher and deleted messages between them, but her mother discovered a TikTok video that supported what classmates described as an inappropriate relationship.
Forty three students were asked to describe what led up to a “disruptive incident” in Lavelle Jamal Gordon‘s Hallandale Beach High School classroom on Oct. 12., but what was uncovered landed the 29-year-old in jail for something totally unrelated after he was accused of having a sexual relationship with a student.
“He was a good teacher,” said Taisha, a student. “He taught real good. He was understanding. He was nice. It’s not something you would expect from him. I was shocked when I heard.”
Some students were shocked by the arrest and some of those asked about the unrelated incident said they did not see anything inappropriate.
But in the arrest affidavit, others said “they witnessed Mr. Gordon and this female student play fighting, hugging below the waist, hugging for an extended period of time and drinking from the same bottle.”
On Friday, Oct. 14, one day after talking to the students, the assistant principal told Gordon not to return to school while they investigated the claims of inappropriate behavior.
The following Monday, in a conference with the student and her mother, the girl denied any relationship with the teacher.
Then, according to the affidavit, “victim’s mother advised that after the conference (10/17/22), she confiscated victim’s cellular phone and stated that she searched victim’s phone and found a TikTok video. Victim’s mother asked who the male was and victim stated the male was Mr. Gordon.”
The assistant principal confirmed it was Gordon in the video kissing the girl in a park near her home.
The Broward County Public Schools Special Investigative Unit got involved and turned to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
Eight pages detail how the two met last March, while working on the yearbook, and exchanged numbers. She says he wrote Post-it Notes telling her not to flirt with boys in his class. After texts and more frequent calls, the relationship reportedly turned sexual.
Gordon drove her to a “clubhouse” in Miami and his home in Pembroke Pines.
Their last encounter, on the same day, students detailed the questionable nature of their relationship.
“Victim stated that last Thursday (10/13/22), the football game got canceled so she asked Mr. Gordon, who was already at school for a ride home. Instead of going to her house, he took her to his house in Pembroke Pines, FL. Victim stated that no one was home at his house. They went into his bedroom where victim laid down because her stomach was hurting. They began kissing as he rubbed her stomach and she rubbed his back. Mr. Gordon asked if she wanted it and victim stated okay… Afterward, Mr. Gordon drove her home.”
Gordon has been charged with being an authority figure soliciting or engaging in sexual conduct offenses with a student.
He has since been reassigned with a job having no contact with students.
As of Tuesday 6 p.m., Gordon remains behind bars and has not posted his $75,000 bond.
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