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    • Accused of rape, Boynton Beach elementary teacher denies the allegations
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    Accused of rape, Boynton Beach elementary teacher denies the allegations

    Online Niel Posted on

    The Palm Beach County School District has removed a teacher from Sunset Palms Elementary after a former student accused him of rape.

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    Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of child sexual abuse that readers may find disturbing.

    WEST PALM BEACH — After school administrators are back on campus a teacher accused of rapehis teenage accuser sued those responsible for hiring him.

    In a federal lawsuit filed last month, the girl accused the Palm Beach County School Board of inviting danger into its halls when it hired Dax Rankine, a man whose criminal record once led the Florida Board of Education to reject the application for a teaching license.

    The lawsuit revives allegations of rape that the child, now a ninth-grader, first reported to school police in 2023.

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    The girl said then and now that Rankine, a physical education teacher at suburban Sunset Palms Elementary School Boynton Beachgroomed and raped her between 2nd and 4th grades. She said the abuse ended in 2020 after the spread of COVID-19 forced in-person classes to end.

    Rankine, 47, began working at Sunset Palms in 2012. Fired by school officials but removed from campus this month following the lawsuit, he has denied the allegations through his attorney. The school district, as a policy, does not comment on open litigation.

    Citing a lack of evidence, school officials deemed the claims unfounded

    In her lawsuit, the student said she had known Rankine since she was in kindergarten. Even then, she said she found him “sensitive,” often sitting too close for comfort.

    The child, identified in the lawsuit as Janie Doe, said Rankine began touching her breasts and inner thighs under the guise of helping her stretch for second and third grade gym class. Doe said the abuse escalated in fourth grade when Rankine cornered her in campus bathrooms and raped her twice.

    Both times, Doe said Rankine told her she would “get in trouble” if she told anyone what happened. She first made the allegations during a therapy session in 2023, prompting investigations by school and state authorities.

    According to public records, no one was able to verify his account.

    The school district placed Rankine on paid leave in November 2023 while it conducted a months-long investigation into the allegations. Rankine provided a statement through his lawyers denying any wrongdoing, but declined the school’s invitation for a voluntary interview.

    Doe’s mother also rebuffed multiple attempts by school investigators to interview her daughter, according to emails contained in Rankine’s personnel file.

    The mother said her daughter, who gave the same account to both police and an agent with the Florida Department of Children and Families, did not want to endure a third round of questioning.

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    When informed that the school could not depend on interviews conducted by other agencies, the mother again refused.

    “You mean the school board refuses to investigate using her two previous testimonies?” my mother wrote in February. “Will this school board allow this pedophile to remain in contact with children?”

    Rankine remained on paid leave while the school investigated the claims without the participation of the accuser or the accused. Sunset Palms Principal Karen Riddle provided a sworn statement in April vouching for Rankine’s work ethic.

    “He’s always been a great teacher and he’s great with supervision,” she said. “I could always trust him for sure. There were never any problems.”

    The school found Doe’s allegations unfounded the following month.

    At the conclusion of a separate investigation, school police recommended that Rankine be charged with sexual assault of a person under the age of 12, a felony punishable by death or life in prison. Prosecutors at the State Attorney’s Office declined to move forward with the charge, citing a lack of evidence.

    However, in an email sent days after the lawsuit was filed, Sunset Palms’ principal told parents that Rankine had been removed from campus and would not be returning.

    The Palm Beach County School Board is accused of turning a blind eye to the alleged abuser

    Doe’s lawsuit accuses the Palm Beach County School Board of willfully ignoring Rankine’s criminal past, which includes arrests for a hit-and-run accident, simple battery, driving under the influence and drug possession.

    Doe’s attorney, Marc Wites, argued in the lawsuit that that history alone should have prevented the district from hiring Rankine in the first place. It initially stopped the state licensing board from approving Rankine’s teaching request, though Rankine successfully appealed its decision.

    “The family and community of parents who have children in that school are very disappointed, not only that this teacher was in the school in the first place, based on his public record of prior arrests that make him unfit to be a teacher, but that the school removed him from the classroom a year after our client came forward,” Wites said Monday.

    Doe requested a jury trial, and U.S. District Court Judge Robin Rosenberg will preside over the case. No court date has been set.

    If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, Palm Beach County Rape Victim Services and Crisis Center can help. Reach their helpline at 561-833-7273 or toll-free at 866-891-7273.

    Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at [email protected]. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.

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