Florida teacher arrested, charged with sexual battery on Lakeland High School student

Earlier this week, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO,) headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida, announced the arrest of a 20-year-old substitute English teacher at Lakeland High School (LHS).  Detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit arrested Ayanna Davis of Lakeland on December 10 after it was learned she had sexually battered a high school student who was 16 years old or younger.

Davis admitted to detectives that she had unprotected sex with the student on four occasions, twice at his house, and twice at her house. Her admission aligned with what the victim told detectives. 

“This is a clear violation of sexual battery laws. She was in a position of influence over the victim, and she took advantage of that for her own twisted pleasure.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff.

The investigation began on Friday, December 3 after an LHS student informed the Lakeland Police Department School Resource officers about the existence of a video on Snapchat showing Davis and another student having sex. The student claimed the video was shown to a large group of LHS football players. 

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office was brought into the investigation after determining that Davis’ residence is outside of city limits in unincorporated Polk County. 

Following their interview of Davis, PCSO detectives arrested her and charged her with two counts of Sexual Battery by Custodian, and, Offenses against Students by Authority Figure. Davis was also served with the Lakeland PD warrant which charged her with an additional two counts of Sexual Battery.

Davis had her first court appearance on Saturday, December 11 where $60,000 in bonds were ordered against her for all five charges, and an arraignment hearing of January 10, 2022 was scheduled. 

Ayanna Davis is not a Polk County Public Schools employee. She was working at Lakeland High as a substitute teacher with the staffing company Kelly Education Services. The company has been instructed that Davis is no longer able to work in any PCPS school site.

“We expect substitute teachers to uphold the same high standards of conduct and professionalism as our full-time educators,” said Superintendent Frederick Heid. “The charges against this person are disgraceful and a complete violation of the trust that teachers build with their students. There is no room in our schools for this type of conduct.”

For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.

(Source and Ayanna Davis booking photo, Credit: Polk County Sheriff’s Office)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter