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The mom of a Florida boy who allegedly received a nude Snapchat from his teacher says school officials branded him a “liar” and suspended him while the teacher kept her job.
Beverly Hernandez claims administrators at Haile Middle School in Bradenton, a city south of Tampa, failed to protect her son from his teacher, Oliver Fell, the mother told ABC7.
“Not only was I disappointed that a teacher that was put there to protect my child was grooming him…I’m more disappointed that they inflicted more trauma by calling him a liar,” Hernandez said.
“By him thinking he was doing the right thing and speaking up, they retaliate against him,” she added.
The boy’s teacher, Fell, 28, turned herself in to authorities on June 2 after a warrant was issued for her arrest. She has been charged with lewd contact with a student by an authority figure, a second-degree felony, and transmission of harmful material to a minor, a third-degree felony.
Fell allegedly started talking to the 14-year-old eighth-grade student on social media in December 2024, and later sent him sexually suggestive images and messages, WDBJ7 reported.
Hernandez’s son was disciplined in March after making the accusations, school administrators told Deputy Sadrac Augustin, the school resource officer, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Augustin then obtained a screenshot from another student’s phone showing a Snapchat conversation between Hernandez’s son and someone with the username Oliver and a purple cat emoji. The student then told Augustin that the conversation was with his teacher, according to the affidavit.
When questioned about the social media account and nude images, Fell denied it was hers. She also denied sending the explicit images, and said two other clothed photos of her on the student’s phone were taken off her Instagram account.
Hernandez said she only learned of the misconduct when she was called in to the school because her son was facing discipline over the accusation on March 3.
However, it wasn’t until May 14 that Fell was reassigned from her teaching role.
After her arrest, Haile Middle School Principal Irene Nikitopoulos told parents it took “several weeks of investigation” to confirm the student’s allegations.
“Once law enforcement had sufficient confirmation, our school and district were informed and Ms. Fell was immediately reassigned to a position away from our school where she had no contact with students,” Nikitopoulos said in a letter.
The matter of months between when the allegations were made and when Fell was reassigned was a major concern for parents, Manatee County School Board Chair Chad Choate told the outlet.
“If you look at the policy issues yes she should have been put on paid leave pending outcome of investigation,” he said. “Everybody gets due process but that’s not really what happened here.”
To make matters worse, Hernandez says she was also the one who reported the case to the state’s Child Protective Services, claiming neither the school nor the school resource officer had reported it after learning of the allegations.
Fell has worked with the school district for the past four years and has no prior criminal record, according to investigators.
Her bond had been set at $20,000.
Fell was also ordered to stay away from the student involved, as well as all minors. She can only be in the presence of juvenile family members under supervision.
