MIAMI — A Miami-Dade County Public Schools security guard was arrested this week after he was accused of “grooming” a female student and having an inappropriate relationship with her.
Johnathan Lee Coard, 35, was arrested Wednesday and appeared in bond court on Thursday, where he currently faces three charges: lewd and lascivious conduct on a child, contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a child, and offenses against students by an authority figure.
After the bond court judge found probable cause, Coard was ordered to stay away from the victim and Felix Varela Senior High School, where the incident took place. According to bond court, Coard also had a prior DUI arrest in Monroe County.
The investigation
On Halloween 2024, police responded to Felix Varela Senior High School following reports of a security monitor being involved in an inappropriate relationship with a female juvenile student.
Upon arrival, police met with the school’s principal, who said that multiple students of his reported that the security guard, later identified as Coard, had been giving the victim “multiple rides home,” the arrest documents said. During their last exchange in his vehicle, Coard had also allegedly kissed the student and made several sexual comments toward her.
The students told the principal that she didn’t want to report the incident because she knew she would “lose her ride him and get him into trouble,” despite feeling uncomfortable and knowing the situation was wrong, the arrest documents said.
Police spoke with the first student, who said that she was talking with a friend in class and asked her if she knew about Coard and that she told her that he was allegedly “friendly with the female students.” She then started saying that one of her friends was telling her that there was one girl that has been “going home with the security guard every day on the low but things started to get weird” when Coard started telling her that “he would treat her better than her boyfriend” and ended up kissing her, the arrest documents said. However, the girl didn’t want to speak out about the incident.
Police then spoke with the second student, who said she was sitting with a group at lunch when the victim’s friend started talking about the incident with Coard. According to that friend, Coard had been giving her rides home but took a different route this time around. The victim was confused but went along with it “because in school they are always talking,” the arrest documents said.
According to the arrest documents, the victim has a boyfriend, whom she always talks about with Coard. However, during their latest exchange, he started to say things like “You don’t deserve to be treated like that,” “I could treat you better” and “You’re such a pretty girl to be treated like that.” Coard then allegedly began to become flirtatious and kissed the victim. The second student told police that the victim began to feel uncomfortable but didn’t want to overreact “just in case anything was to happen” and just asked to be driven home, the arrest documents said.
The next day, the victim told her friend everything that had happened and shared with her some inappropriate text messages that Coard had allegedly sent her, including an apology for his behavior during their last drive.
The third student shared the same story that the second student had told police, the arrest documents said.
Police then spoke with the fourth student, who told police that Coard and the victim had started to become close because he would allegedly give her money for alcohol and “random stuff” like food and snacks, the arrest documents said. The student continued, saying that they she knew that Coard had allegedly given her cash and sent her money through apps like Zelle and CashApp. The fourth student told police that she didn’t know about the car incident until the victim spoke up and said it made her uncomfortable. She continued, saying that the victim never said anything about Coard because “she didn’t want to lose the benefits and perks he provided,” the arrest documents said.
Police then spoke with the victim, who said that Coard had allegedly “consistently through sexual hints at me and made me feel uncomfortable,” and talked about choking her, wanting pictures and being intimate with her, the arrest documents said. The victim continued, saying that Coard had allegedly been offering her rides home but she only took him up twice on the officer, and it was on the second instance that the incident happened.
After getting permission from the victim’s father, police searched the victim’s cellphone and found multiple phone and FaceTime calls between her and Coard ranging from only 11 seconds to 24 minutes, the arrest documents said. Police also found text messages that corroborated her and the other students’ testimonies.
From there, police determined that the victim had trusted and confided in Coard as an authority figure, used her “vulnerability as an opportunity to get close to her and groom her,” the arrest documents said.
On Wednesday, Coard was called into Miami-Dade Schools Police Headquarters, where he surrendered himself to the authorities. Upon arrival, he was read his Miranda rights and signed a Miranda waiver, but declined to speak with police before being taken to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.