LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Lake County Schools has launched an internal investigation into sexual-assault allegations against the Lake Minneola High School band director and how the case was handled by the school, officials said.
Jon North is accused of having a sexual relationship with a student in late 2015 and early 2016.
The student involved told investigators that his relationship with North started via text but later became physical and then sexual, the report said.
North allegedly confessed to the relationship.
"He advised he stopped when he realized it was wrong," the report said.
Lake Minneola High School principal, Linda Shepherd, told investigators that the school started looking into North’s actions after discovering a questionable social media post.
The post was found in mid-June but North was not arrested until Wednesday, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
While the post was not overtly sexual, it was questionable and investigators were asking why it took so long to be reported to law enforcement, the Sheriff’s Office said.
“Florida statues mandate that when a school official, such as a principal, learns of sexual abuse, they have to report it,” WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said. “The statute requiring reporting does not have a bright-line timeframe in which you have to report.”
Cox Media Group
