Series of misconduct cases signals systemic breakdown in Manatee County schools
December 14, 2025 at 5:00 AM EST
Over the past two years, Manatee County schools have been rocked by a string of teacher-misconduct cases. A joint investigation by Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald found that red flags in applications were overlooked.
An elementary school resource teacher arrested for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse materials and footage of sexual activity with an animal.
A middle school teacher arrested after allegedly sending a student explicit images on social media.
A high school teacher and football coach arrested twice in one week for allegedly making sexual advances toward teenage students.
In the past two years, the School District of Manatee County has faced a drumbeat of allegations that teachers and staff physically or sexually mistreated students as young as 7 years old.
“There was definitely a time … where I’m like, ‘What’s going on in this county?’” said Manatee School Board Member Charlie Kennedy. “It just was one after the other — it keeps coming.”
At least a dozen incidents have sparked headline-making arrests, costly lawsuits against the district and outcry from parents who contend the administration did not do enough to protect kids.
By spring, the pressure had reached a tipping point. A case at B.D. Gullett Elementary involving allegations that a teacher showed inappropriate affection toward a student cost then-Superintendent Jason Wysong his job amid other concerns about his lack of communication.
Former Manatee County Superintendent Jason Wysong, pictured here during an April 29 school board meeting, was terminated in May. (2574x1590, AR: 1.618867924528302)
More cases have since followed.
The district is supposed to vet potential hires through background checks, reference checks and screening questionnaires, weeding out problematic candidates before they reach students. Should warning signs emerge after hiring, the district's policies are supposed to protect kids by requiring staff to report any potential boundary violations — from spending unusual time alone with a student to sending students private letters — to district and state authorities.
But in multiple cases, the district’s safeguards didn’t work as intended. Missed warnings and weak follow-through left students vulnerable.
Reporters at Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald spent four months examining more than half a dozen high-profile cases, combing through hundreds of pages of district personnel files, civil lawsuits and police reports. Reporters also studied school guidelines and interviewed parents, experts and school officials about lapses in the system.
The investigation found that those involved in hiring decisions overlooked potential red flags in the job applications of educators accused of misconduct. Two applicants answered screening questions in ways that should have halted the process. Two teachers were hired even when their out-of-state references could not be reached.
In some cases, the investigation found, the district either missed or ignored early warnings of inappropriate behavior. At one school, families allege a teacher's aide was able to molest multiple children after a parent's earlier complaint about the staffer's inappropriate conduct was allegedly dismissed. A top sheriff’s captain said incidents were not being reported to law enforcement, allowing issues to manifest.
District staff had not had Title IX training in recent years, reporters learned. Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination, including harassment and assault, in schools and outlines procedures to report and investigate such incidents. Officials pointed to a video-based course as evidence of instruction but declined to make it available to reporters, citing proprietary rights, leaving unclear what the training covers.
After red flags were overlooked and application processes ignored, the district seemingly addressed misconduct incidents as they came up, instead of taking a more proactive approach, the investigation found. New leadership is working to reinforce background checks and reporting procedures, as well as improve communication.
“We have new leadership, and our leaders are committed to the highest standards,” district spokesperson Jamie Carson said in a statement to reporters. “We will continue refining processes, auditing compliance, and reporting progress openly. When allegations arise, we follow policy and law: notifying authorities, cooperating fully, and taking appropriate employment action.”
Two students of Manatee Elementary School make their way through the halls on a cool Wednesday morning. The school is a Community school, with a medical center, food pantry, and other supportive services for the students and their families. (2266x1433, AR: 1.581297976273552)
Superintendent Laurie Breslin was hired in August for the district’s top job after an extensive career within the district. She acknowledged areas for improvement, like improving communication and reinforcing Title IX training.
But Breslin said that the wrongdoings of a few do not reflect the district as a whole.
“We have hard-working, caring employees,” Breslin said during one of two sit-down interviews for this story. “We have employees that have gotten in trouble in very, very, very small numbers. And what I don’t want is for the terrible decisions of a few people to impact the reputation of the 99.9%.”
The allegations in Manatee County come amid a rise in school-based child abuse nationwide, an expert said. Researchers estimate one in 10 students nationally will experience misconduct from an educator between kindergarten and graduation.
Even in neighboring Sarasota County Schools, there have been at least two cases this year, including a former Reserve Officers' Training Corps instructor at Venice High arrested after students said they were inappropriately touched, and a security aide at Booker High who allegedly moved a student into his home and sexually abused her.
“We take every accusation seriously and conduct thorough investigations in accordance with district policy and state law,” district spokesman Craig Maniglia wrote in an email to reporters.
To be sure, the misconduct cases reviewed by the media organizations represent a small sample, and the insights gleaned, while valuable, cannot explain the full scope or root causes of the pattern of teacher misconduct across the district.
And the fact that staffers accused of misconduct are being identified and arrested could be viewed as a sign that problems are being addressed.
Dr. Laurie Breslin, Superintendent of the School District of Manatee on September 30, 2025. (3000x2509, AR: 1.195695496213631)
“There are safeguards,” said Pat Barber, president of the Manatee Education Association, the union that represents Manatee County teachers and paraprofessionals. “There are consequences.”
But with so many cases, experts said, it’s imperative that administrators not only remove abusers but overhaul the culture to prevent future issues.
“The culture of the school needs to be such that if you see something like this, you intervene because you could keep a child from being harmed,” said Charol Shakeshaft, professor emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University who has studied school abuse for decades. “That’s what’s not happening at our schools. We’re not stopping them once they cross the first boundaries.”
Gaps in applicant vetting missed potential red flags
All employees at Manatee schools submit to fingerprinting and criminal background checks before their start dates, district officials said. While those checks weed out candidates with prior convictions, that’s only one step in vetting prospective hires.
The other is reference checks. District hiring officials previously were required to obtain two references for job candidates, said Carson, the district spokeswoman. That has since been changed to three.
That didn’t happen with Carina Chindamo, whose personnel file shows that when she applied to the district in 2022, the hiring manager contacted three references from past employers — but reached only one.
G.D. Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School. (2000x1302, AR: 1.5360983102918586)
The former autism spectrum disorder teacher at Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary in Bradenton was arrested and charged with false imprisonment in February 2024 after she and aide Taylor Internicola allegedly tied a 7-year-old to a chair for an hour during recess — a practice that is not condoned by the district’s professional crisis management training.
Chindamo and Internicola both pleaded no contest in court and were released under supervision. Chindamo’s lawyer declined to comment.
In the case of Oliver Fell, the district hired the teacher in 2023 despite her answering "Yes" to the question: “Have you ever been non-renewed at the end of a contract?” The district’s file indicates the correct answer for candidates is “No.”
Fell, who taught at Haile Middle School in northern Manatee County, was arrested in June for allegedly sending explicit messages to a student on social media. The 29-year-old woman pleaded not guilty to charges and declined to comment on the ongoing case.
But she told a reporter that her answer to the question about non-renewal was a mistake and that she notified the district about the application error immediately. Carson was unable to confirm Fell’s comment.
Breslin said that a non-renewal should trigger an alert in the hiring process.
"It's common practice for a district to say we don't hire anyone who's been non-renewed as an educator anywhere," the superintendent said. "You could be non-renewed for, you know, not showing up on time for your job, for not having quality classroom management, I mean, all kinds of reasons."
If a hiring manager feels there should be an exception, they need deputy approval, Breslin said.
A review of former English teacher Richard Silberman’s personnel file shows similar gaps in the vetting process — although accusations against him relate solely to his later employment at a local charter school.
Silberman began teaching at Lakewood Ranch’s Jain Middle School in January 2024 but was told three months later his contract would not be renewed. The district gave no reason, telling reporters only that the position was filled by another candidate and that there were no complaints during Silberman’s employment.
Silberman then secured a job at Team Success, a Bradenton charter school. In April, Manatee County Sheriff’s deputies charged the 72-year-old with molestation and battery after multiple children said he touched them inappropriately. He has pleaded not guilty, and a trial is scheduled for March. His attorney declined to comment.
But Silberman’s district application contained red flags. He answered “Yes” when asked if he had a pending investigation involving a professional license, and his resume omitted a previous teaching job at a Nevada school — a gap reporters later uncovered through public records.
Richard Silberman answered “Yes” when asked if he had a pending investigation involving a professional license. (1300x880, AR: 1.4772727272727273)
District records show Jain Middle Principal Kate Barlaug hired Silberman with just one reference — a positive review from a real estate agency where he’d worked. She unsuccessfully attempted to reach another reference — a Nevada principal — and had to file an out-of-field teacher request because Silberman lacked the proper certification to teach middle school language arts.
“We have been trying to hire for this position since August,” Barlaug wrote. “He is a former teacher who wants the position. … He is highly qualified for this position.”
Carson said the hire was “based on a clear criminal background check, favorable references, and the individual’s status and performance as a substitute teacher in the school.” And when Team Success asked about him, Carson said, the district told the charter Silberman was nonrenewed but that there was no reason he should not work with children.
Team Success did not respond to a reporter’s outreach for this story.
Under the new superintendent, Carson said, the district has recently modified its hiring processes, including requiring three references and implementing a notification that flags discrepancies in application responses.
It’s important for schools to thoroughly check references for warning signs, according to Elizabeth Jeglic, a psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Often, with a minor issue that does not lead to an arrest, there is no paper trail, allowing employees to bounce from one school district to another and repeat their behavior, she said.
“It happens over and over again,” Jeglic said.
The snowball effect: Crossing one boundary leads to another
Experts say most educators accused of misconduct did not enter the profession seeking access to children or intending to harm them.
Instead, Shakeshaft said, the majority in that category demonstrate lapses of judgment that build over time. They may start by crossing a seemingly small, personal boundary — something that might not be illegal or outright improper — and then cross another, and another.
Children received a free book at G.D. Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School in 2019. (2000x1446, AR: 1.3831258644536653)
District policies are in place to prevent those boundary crossings. They prohibit sexually suggestive behavior with students and discourage staff from interacting with students on social media. They also outline how employees should respond when concerns arise.
Alleged misconduct must be reported to the superintendent, who then makes the decision to reassign the employee or place them on leave. And administrators must notify a parent of the alleged incident within 30 days of the day the district learns of it.
But a review of misconduct cases by the Bradenton Herald and Suncoast Searchlight shows how the pattern Shakeshaft described played out despite those policies. Small transgressions — like texting students outside of school, unusual one-on-one time behind closed doors or a seemingly playful touch — went unnoticed or overlooked.
“We see this breadcrumb trail that leads up to cases of abuse,” Jeglic, the John Jay professor, said of the cases she’s examined across the nation. “We are not telling teachers what these low-level boundaries look like.”
That pattern is reflected in allegations against Angel Rodriguez Mercado, a former teacher’s aide at Abel Elementary in south Manatee County. Mercado, who worked with young English learners, was arrested in November 2023 over allegations that he molested a child, after which more students came forward with similar allegations.
Two civil lawsuits filed against the district claim that warning signs had surfaced — and that school staff knew about them and failed to act — long before law enforcement got involved.
According to one lawsuit, settled in October, when a mother reported alleged sexual abuse by Mercado, principal Samantha Webb said there had been a prior complaint about the aide touching a student. Webb allegedly brushed off the prior complaint, downplaying Mercado’s behavior as simply acting “like a grandfather.”
According to a lawsuit, settled in October, when a mother reported alleged sexual abuse by teacher’s aide, the principal said there had been a prior complaint about him touching a student but allegedly brushed it off. (1152x814, AR: 1.4152334152334152)
A second, ongoing lawsuit claims Mercado sexually assaulted their child repeatedly in 2023, and school administrators failed to promptly investigate.
Many of the incidents occurred while others were present, one lawsuit said.
“It’s a big classroom compared to most,” said Krisel McSweeney, a lawyer representing the mother in the first case. “But there were no blind spots. If he was putting children on his lap, [the teacher] would’ve seen it.”
Mercado entered not guilty pleas for his various molestation charges, which remain open pending a trial. Mercado could not be reached by reporters. His public defender did not return calls and emails seeking comment.
Lawyers of these families said the incidents could have been prevented if the school had acted sooner.
“What we've been able to put together is that the district kind of shrugs off complaints from parents and other professionals at the school and allowed this man to continue to be in the classroom,” said Alan Perez, an attorney representing a family in the open lawsuit.
A breakdown in communication
Manatee County School Board members remain split on whether the district’s string of teacher misconduct cases represent a troubling pattern or a series of isolated incidents.
But several said they struggled to recognize any larger trend because they were not consistently informed about cases as they happened.
Tension grew after the Gullet Elementary incident, which board members called a tipping point. The case involved fifth-grade teacher Jarrett Williams, whose alleged inappropriate behavior drew public attention when a parent appeared at an April 29 board meeting.
Parent Ann Mitchell appeared before the Manatee County School Board on April 29 demanding accountability for the way the district handled allegations of misconduct involving a fifth-grade teacher toward her 11-year-old daughter. (2788x1568, AR: 1.778061224489796)
Holding what she called a “textbook grooming letter” from Williams to her 11-year-old daughter, Ann Mitchell accused district leaders of keeping her in the dark about its investigation after district personnel found surveillance footage showing Williams alone with her daughter for 45 minutes.
The district’s internal investigation found Williams violated several policies, though prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges for stalking. Williams, who resigned during the inquiry, told reporters he is trying to put the incident behind him.
“I didn’t do what I was accused of,” he said.
While the case alarmed the community, board members said the fallout exposed a deeper issue — a breakdown in communication between the superintendent and the board. At least one member said they often learned about misconduct allegations “late in the game,” making it difficult to see the buildup of cases.
Some board members said the lack of visibility meant the incidents were handled one at a time, not as potential signs of a systemic problem.
“I do believe that the way … that we handled some of the communication was not the right way. I think there was a lot of stuff left in the dark,” board member Chad Choate said, adding that the numbers might not reflect an actual uptick in misconduct — but rather better technology that catches offenders more easily.
“I don’t know if it’s happening any more or any less,” Choate said. “I just think now there’s proof to show that it is happening.”
But board member Heather Felton said she sees the cases as “happenstance” rather than evidence of a systemic problem. She said teachers and staff are now fully aware of the need to protect students but added “the world is full of [terrible people]. It’s an unfortunate and horrible reality, particularly in a school system.”
Board Chair Cindy Spray declined to say whether she saw a trend at all.
None of the board members could identify a clear reason for the string of incidents or how the district might get ahead on future cases.
“Unfortunately, I’m sure we’ll see more cases in the future in which terrible people are trying to hurt children, and I don’t know how to stop that,” Felton said.
Many pointed to the district’s latest training over the summer as a start.
“We’re doing what we believe will be helpful,” board member Richard Tatem said. “But I don’t really know how you figure out why us, why here, why now?”
Officials acknowledge problems, explore solutions
Public officials, law enforcement and national experts all agreed that to minimize teacher misconduct, schools must improve communication and training.
Making sure authorities talk to all students in the classroom when an allegation surfaces. Calling parents whose children are in the class, even those not directly impacted. More open-ended questions when interviewing children. And rigorous training for teachers and other campus workers beyond an online video – keeping a constant focus on reporting anything suspicious.
Lt. Mark Morie, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office child crime investigator. (5436x3057, AR: 1.7782139352306183)
All of those steps were outlined by Capt. Mark Morie, who leads the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office’s Child Protection Investigation Division, which oversees the agency’s school resource officers and handles all criminal allegations of abuse in schools. Morie gave a presentation of early warning signs, mandatory reporting and prevention to Manatee school leaders in August, echoing many of the same themes he told a reporter.
He said communication with the school board had improved under interim superintendent Kevin Chapman and continues under Breslin. But prolonged holes in the reporting system had allowed issues to manifest.
“We had a number of cases toward the tail end of the school year where we found things were not being reported to law enforcement,” Morie said. “It was just a lack of communication. It was not malicious or done intentionally, but it was just lapses.”
He declined to address details of any specific cases.
“Unfortunately, it took a number of cases to bring us to this point, but at the end of the day, we’re all human beings and things happen. It’s what you do afterwards,” Morie said. ”If everyone did their part, we wouldn’t have these slips in the system where these things go on for years.”
Breslin agreed things must improve and said she has taken a number of steps to do it. Among them: launching an audit of the district’s Human Resources department and hiring practices; retraining staff on how to spot boundary crossings and proper reporting procedures; strengthening transparency and communication with families; and more training on federal Title IX requirements for handling discrimination and harassment.
“One of the things I knew was problematic was Title IX training,” Breslin said. “But that is something they’re addressing immediately. We hadn’t had Title IX training in recent years, and it really should be a normal expectation.”
Bradenton Herald reporter and editor Ryan Ballogg and reporter Michael Moore Jr. contributed to this report.
This project is a collaboration between the Bradenton Herald and Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.
Editor's note: Suncoast Searchlight says it does not use generative AI in its stories. If you have questions about their policies or content, contact Executive Editor-In-Chief Emily Le Coz at emily@suncoastsearchlight.org.
A middle school teacher arrested after allegedly sending a student explicit images on social media.
A high school teacher and football coach arrested twice in one week for allegedly making sexual advances toward teenage students.
In the past two years, the School District of Manatee County has faced a drumbeat of allegations that teachers and staff physically or sexually mistreated students as young as 7 years old.
“There was definitely a time … where I’m like, ‘What’s going on in this county?’” said Manatee School Board Member Charlie Kennedy. “It just was one after the other — it keeps coming.”
At least a dozen incidents have sparked headline-making arrests, costly lawsuits against the district and outcry from parents who contend the administration did not do enough to protect kids.
By spring, the pressure had reached a tipping point. A case at B.D. Gullett Elementary involving allegations that a teacher showed inappropriate affection toward a student cost then-Superintendent Jason Wysong his job amid other concerns about his lack of communication.
Former Manatee County Superintendent Jason Wysong, pictured here during an April 29 school board meeting, was terminated in May. (2574x1590, AR: 1.618867924528302)
More cases have since followed.
The district is supposed to vet potential hires through background checks, reference checks and screening questionnaires, weeding out problematic candidates before they reach students. Should warning signs emerge after hiring, the district's policies are supposed to protect kids by requiring staff to report any potential boundary violations — from spending unusual time alone with a student to sending students private letters — to district and state authorities.
But in multiple cases, the district’s safeguards didn’t work as intended. Missed warnings and weak follow-through left students vulnerable.
Reporters at Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald spent four months examining more than half a dozen high-profile cases, combing through hundreds of pages of district personnel files, civil lawsuits and police reports. Reporters also studied school guidelines and interviewed parents, experts and school officials about lapses in the system.
The investigation found that those involved in hiring decisions overlooked potential red flags in the job applications of educators accused of misconduct. Two applicants answered screening questions in ways that should have halted the process. Two teachers were hired even when their out-of-state references could not be reached.
In some cases, the investigation found, the district either missed or ignored early warnings of inappropriate behavior. At one school, families allege a teacher's aide was able to molest multiple children after a parent's earlier complaint about the staffer's inappropriate conduct was allegedly dismissed. A top sheriff’s captain said incidents were not being reported to law enforcement, allowing issues to manifest.
District staff had not had Title IX training in recent years, reporters learned. Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination, including harassment and assault, in schools and outlines procedures to report and investigate such incidents. Officials pointed to a video-based course as evidence of instruction but declined to make it available to reporters, citing proprietary rights, leaving unclear what the training covers.
After red flags were overlooked and application processes ignored, the district seemingly addressed misconduct incidents as they came up, instead of taking a more proactive approach, the investigation found. New leadership is working to reinforce background checks and reporting procedures, as well as improve communication.
“We have new leadership, and our leaders are committed to the highest standards,” district spokesperson Jamie Carson said in a statement to reporters. “We will continue refining processes, auditing compliance, and reporting progress openly. When allegations arise, we follow policy and law: notifying authorities, cooperating fully, and taking appropriate employment action.”
Two students of Manatee Elementary School make their way through the halls on a cool Wednesday morning. The school is a Community school, with a medical center, food pantry, and other supportive services for the students and their families. (2266x1433, AR: 1.581297976273552)
Superintendent Laurie Breslin was hired in August for the district’s top job after an extensive career within the district. She acknowledged areas for improvement, like improving communication and reinforcing Title IX training.
But Breslin said that the wrongdoings of a few do not reflect the district as a whole.
“We have hard-working, caring employees,” Breslin said during one of two sit-down interviews for this story. “We have employees that have gotten in trouble in very, very, very small numbers. And what I don’t want is for the terrible decisions of a few people to impact the reputation of the 99.9%.”
The allegations in Manatee County come amid a rise in school-based child abuse nationwide, an expert said. Researchers estimate one in 10 students nationally will experience misconduct from an educator between kindergarten and graduation.
Even in neighboring Sarasota County Schools, there have been at least two cases this year, including a former Reserve Officers' Training Corps instructor at Venice High arrested after students said they were inappropriately touched, and a security aide at Booker High who allegedly moved a student into his home and sexually abused her.
“We take every accusation seriously and conduct thorough investigations in accordance with district policy and state law,” district spokesman Craig Maniglia wrote in an email to reporters.
To be sure, the misconduct cases reviewed by the media organizations represent a small sample, and the insights gleaned, while valuable, cannot explain the full scope or root causes of the pattern of teacher misconduct across the district.
And the fact that staffers accused of misconduct are being identified and arrested could be viewed as a sign that problems are being addressed.
Dr. Laurie Breslin, Superintendent of the School District of Manatee on September 30, 2025. (3000x2509, AR: 1.195695496213631)
“There are safeguards,” said Pat Barber, president of the Manatee Education Association, the union that represents Manatee County teachers and paraprofessionals. “There are consequences.”
But with so many cases, experts said, it’s imperative that administrators not only remove abusers but overhaul the culture to prevent future issues.
“The culture of the school needs to be such that if you see something like this, you intervene because you could keep a child from being harmed,” said Charol Shakeshaft, professor emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University who has studied school abuse for decades. “That’s what’s not happening at our schools. We’re not stopping them once they cross the first boundaries.”
Gaps in applicant vetting missed potential red flags
All employees at Manatee schools submit to fingerprinting and criminal background checks before their start dates, district officials said. While those checks weed out candidates with prior convictions, that’s only one step in vetting prospective hires.
The other is reference checks. District hiring officials previously were required to obtain two references for job candidates, said Carson, the district spokeswoman. That has since been changed to three.
That didn’t happen with Carina Chindamo, whose personnel file shows that when she applied to the district in 2022, the hiring manager contacted three references from past employers — but reached only one.
G.D. Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School. (2000x1302, AR: 1.5360983102918586)
The former autism spectrum disorder teacher at Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary in Bradenton was arrested and charged with false imprisonment in February 2024 after she and aide Taylor Internicola allegedly tied a 7-year-old to a chair for an hour during recess — a practice that is not condoned by the district’s professional crisis management training.
Chindamo and Internicola both pleaded no contest in court and were released under supervision. Chindamo’s lawyer declined to comment.
In the case of Oliver Fell, the district hired the teacher in 2023 despite her answering "Yes" to the question: “Have you ever been non-renewed at the end of a contract?” The district’s file indicates the correct answer for candidates is “No.”
Fell, who taught at Haile Middle School in northern Manatee County, was arrested in June for allegedly sending explicit messages to a student on social media. The 29-year-old woman pleaded not guilty to charges and declined to comment on the ongoing case.
But she told a reporter that her answer to the question about non-renewal was a mistake and that she notified the district about the application error immediately. Carson was unable to confirm Fell’s comment.
Breslin said that a non-renewal should trigger an alert in the hiring process.
"It's common practice for a district to say we don't hire anyone who's been non-renewed as an educator anywhere," the superintendent said. "You could be non-renewed for, you know, not showing up on time for your job, for not having quality classroom management, I mean, all kinds of reasons."
If a hiring manager feels there should be an exception, they need deputy approval, Breslin said.
A review of former English teacher Richard Silberman’s personnel file shows similar gaps in the vetting process — although accusations against him relate solely to his later employment at a local charter school.
Silberman began teaching at Lakewood Ranch’s Jain Middle School in January 2024 but was told three months later his contract would not be renewed. The district gave no reason, telling reporters only that the position was filled by another candidate and that there were no complaints during Silberman’s employment.
Silberman then secured a job at Team Success, a Bradenton charter school. In April, Manatee County Sheriff’s deputies charged the 72-year-old with molestation and battery after multiple children said he touched them inappropriately. He has pleaded not guilty, and a trial is scheduled for March. His attorney declined to comment.
But Silberman’s district application contained red flags. He answered “Yes” when asked if he had a pending investigation involving a professional license, and his resume omitted a previous teaching job at a Nevada school — a gap reporters later uncovered through public records.
Richard Silberman answered “Yes” when asked if he had a pending investigation involving a professional license. (1300x880, AR: 1.4772727272727273)
District records show Jain Middle Principal Kate Barlaug hired Silberman with just one reference — a positive review from a real estate agency where he’d worked. She unsuccessfully attempted to reach another reference — a Nevada principal — and had to file an out-of-field teacher request because Silberman lacked the proper certification to teach middle school language arts.
“We have been trying to hire for this position since August,” Barlaug wrote. “He is a former teacher who wants the position. … He is highly qualified for this position.”
Carson said the hire was “based on a clear criminal background check, favorable references, and the individual’s status and performance as a substitute teacher in the school.” And when Team Success asked about him, Carson said, the district told the charter Silberman was nonrenewed but that there was no reason he should not work with children.
Team Success did not respond to a reporter’s outreach for this story.
Under the new superintendent, Carson said, the district has recently modified its hiring processes, including requiring three references and implementing a notification that flags discrepancies in application responses.
It’s important for schools to thoroughly check references for warning signs, according to Elizabeth Jeglic, a psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Often, with a minor issue that does not lead to an arrest, there is no paper trail, allowing employees to bounce from one school district to another and repeat their behavior, she said.
“It happens over and over again,” Jeglic said.
The snowball effect: Crossing one boundary leads to another
Experts say most educators accused of misconduct did not enter the profession seeking access to children or intending to harm them.
Instead, Shakeshaft said, the majority in that category demonstrate lapses of judgment that build over time. They may start by crossing a seemingly small, personal boundary — something that might not be illegal or outright improper — and then cross another, and another.
Children received a free book at G.D. Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School in 2019. (2000x1446, AR: 1.3831258644536653)
District policies are in place to prevent those boundary crossings. They prohibit sexually suggestive behavior with students and discourage staff from interacting with students on social media. They also outline how employees should respond when concerns arise.
Alleged misconduct must be reported to the superintendent, who then makes the decision to reassign the employee or place them on leave. And administrators must notify a parent of the alleged incident within 30 days of the day the district learns of it.
But a review of misconduct cases by the Bradenton Herald and Suncoast Searchlight shows how the pattern Shakeshaft described played out despite those policies. Small transgressions — like texting students outside of school, unusual one-on-one time behind closed doors or a seemingly playful touch — went unnoticed or overlooked.
“We see this breadcrumb trail that leads up to cases of abuse,” Jeglic, the John Jay professor, said of the cases she’s examined across the nation. “We are not telling teachers what these low-level boundaries look like.”
That pattern is reflected in allegations against Angel Rodriguez Mercado, a former teacher’s aide at Abel Elementary in south Manatee County. Mercado, who worked with young English learners, was arrested in November 2023 over allegations that he molested a child, after which more students came forward with similar allegations.
Two civil lawsuits filed against the district claim that warning signs had surfaced — and that school staff knew about them and failed to act — long before law enforcement got involved.
According to one lawsuit, settled in October, when a mother reported alleged sexual abuse by Mercado, principal Samantha Webb said there had been a prior complaint about the aide touching a student. Webb allegedly brushed off the prior complaint, downplaying Mercado’s behavior as simply acting “like a grandfather.”
According to a lawsuit, settled in October, when a mother reported alleged sexual abuse by teacher’s aide, the principal said there had been a prior complaint about him touching a student but allegedly brushed it off. (1152x814, AR: 1.4152334152334152)
A second, ongoing lawsuit claims Mercado sexually assaulted their child repeatedly in 2023, and school administrators failed to promptly investigate.
Many of the incidents occurred while others were present, one lawsuit said.
“It’s a big classroom compared to most,” said Krisel McSweeney, a lawyer representing the mother in the first case. “But there were no blind spots. If he was putting children on his lap, [the teacher] would’ve seen it.”
Mercado entered not guilty pleas for his various molestation charges, which remain open pending a trial. Mercado could not be reached by reporters. His public defender did not return calls and emails seeking comment.
Lawyers of these families said the incidents could have been prevented if the school had acted sooner.
“What we've been able to put together is that the district kind of shrugs off complaints from parents and other professionals at the school and allowed this man to continue to be in the classroom,” said Alan Perez, an attorney representing a family in the open lawsuit.
A breakdown in communication
Manatee County School Board members remain split on whether the district’s string of teacher misconduct cases represent a troubling pattern or a series of isolated incidents.
But several said they struggled to recognize any larger trend because they were not consistently informed about cases as they happened.
Tension grew after the Gullet Elementary incident, which board members called a tipping point. The case involved fifth-grade teacher Jarrett Williams, whose alleged inappropriate behavior drew public attention when a parent appeared at an April 29 board meeting.
Parent Ann Mitchell appeared before the Manatee County School Board on April 29 demanding accountability for the way the district handled allegations of misconduct involving a fifth-grade teacher toward her 11-year-old daughter. (2788x1568, AR: 1.778061224489796)
Holding what she called a “textbook grooming letter” from Williams to her 11-year-old daughter, Ann Mitchell accused district leaders of keeping her in the dark about its investigation after district personnel found surveillance footage showing Williams alone with her daughter for 45 minutes.
The district’s internal investigation found Williams violated several policies, though prosecutors declined to pursue criminal charges for stalking. Williams, who resigned during the inquiry, told reporters he is trying to put the incident behind him.
“I didn’t do what I was accused of,” he said.
While the case alarmed the community, board members said the fallout exposed a deeper issue — a breakdown in communication between the superintendent and the board. At least one member said they often learned about misconduct allegations “late in the game,” making it difficult to see the buildup of cases.
Some board members said the lack of visibility meant the incidents were handled one at a time, not as potential signs of a systemic problem.
“I do believe that the way … that we handled some of the communication was not the right way. I think there was a lot of stuff left in the dark,” board member Chad Choate said, adding that the numbers might not reflect an actual uptick in misconduct — but rather better technology that catches offenders more easily.
“I don’t know if it’s happening any more or any less,” Choate said. “I just think now there’s proof to show that it is happening.”
But board member Heather Felton said she sees the cases as “happenstance” rather than evidence of a systemic problem. She said teachers and staff are now fully aware of the need to protect students but added “the world is full of [terrible people]. It’s an unfortunate and horrible reality, particularly in a school system.”
Board Chair Cindy Spray declined to say whether she saw a trend at all.
None of the board members could identify a clear reason for the string of incidents or how the district might get ahead on future cases.
“Unfortunately, I’m sure we’ll see more cases in the future in which terrible people are trying to hurt children, and I don’t know how to stop that,” Felton said.
Many pointed to the district’s latest training over the summer as a start.
“We’re doing what we believe will be helpful,” board member Richard Tatem said. “But I don’t really know how you figure out why us, why here, why now?”
Officials acknowledge problems, explore solutions
Public officials, law enforcement and national experts all agreed that to minimize teacher misconduct, schools must improve communication and training.
Making sure authorities talk to all students in the classroom when an allegation surfaces. Calling parents whose children are in the class, even those not directly impacted. More open-ended questions when interviewing children. And rigorous training for teachers and other campus workers beyond an online video – keeping a constant focus on reporting anything suspicious.
Lt. Mark Morie, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office child crime investigator. (5436x3057, AR: 1.7782139352306183)
All of those steps were outlined by Capt. Mark Morie, who leads the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office’s Child Protection Investigation Division, which oversees the agency’s school resource officers and handles all criminal allegations of abuse in schools. Morie gave a presentation of early warning signs, mandatory reporting and prevention to Manatee school leaders in August, echoing many of the same themes he told a reporter.
He said communication with the school board had improved under interim superintendent Kevin Chapman and continues under Breslin. But prolonged holes in the reporting system had allowed issues to manifest.
“We had a number of cases toward the tail end of the school year where we found things were not being reported to law enforcement,” Morie said. “It was just a lack of communication. It was not malicious or done intentionally, but it was just lapses.”
He declined to address details of any specific cases.
“Unfortunately, it took a number of cases to bring us to this point, but at the end of the day, we’re all human beings and things happen. It’s what you do afterwards,” Morie said. ”If everyone did their part, we wouldn’t have these slips in the system where these things go on for years.”
Breslin agreed things must improve and said she has taken a number of steps to do it. Among them: launching an audit of the district’s Human Resources department and hiring practices; retraining staff on how to spot boundary crossings and proper reporting procedures; strengthening transparency and communication with families; and more training on federal Title IX requirements for handling discrimination and harassment.
“One of the things I knew was problematic was Title IX training,” Breslin said. “But that is something they’re addressing immediately. We hadn’t had Title IX training in recent years, and it really should be a normal expectation.”
Bradenton Herald reporter and editor Ryan Ballogg and reporter Michael Moore Jr. contributed to this report.
This project is a collaboration between the Bradenton Herald and Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.
Editor's note: Suncoast Searchlight says it does not use generative AI in its stories. If you have questions about their policies or content, contact Executive Editor-In-Chief Emily Le Coz at emily@suncoastsearchlight.org.