Police: Florida Substitute Teacher Committed Sex Offenses Against Students, Sent Explicit Snapchats

A Florida substitute teacher was arrested Thursday morning after two of his female students accused him of sex crimes.

Jerron Dunn, 33, was a substitute English teacher at New Beginnings High School in Lakeland when he allegedly sent teens “videos of himself masturbating, via Snapchat,” the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The investigation began when the two victims, 17 and 18, reported the incidents to their school guidance counselor, who contacted police.

Officials said one of the students, 17, told detectives that when she asked to place her cell phone on a phone charger belonging to Dunn, he took the opportunity to go into her phone and add himself on Snapchat.

“He then began sending her messages asking her to come visit him at his house. She declined but he continued sending messages, and then sent her a video of himself masturbating,” the sheriff’s office said.

The second victim, 18, told detectives that she accepted a Snapchat friend request from Dunn, after which he began “messaging her and telling her that she was pretty and he wanted to start a relationship with her.”

“The victim told Dunn that he was too old for her and that it would be ‘weird’ because he is her teacher,” officials said.

However, he allegedly continued to send her messages, including “several videos of himself masturbating.”

Investigators said the substitute teacher also told the student he wanted to be a “friend with benefits” and asked that she come to his home for sex. 

During questioning with police, Dunn reportedly admitted to communicating via Snapchat with the 17-year-old and to asking the 18-year-old to be his girlfriend in addition to sending her the explicit videos. 

He has already been charged with a sex offense on a student by an authority figure and transmission of harmful material to a minor, though police say “further charges are pending” following a forensic analysis of his phone. 

Dunn is currently in custody at the Polk County Jail and is being held on a $30,000 bond, WFLA reported.

“This suspect used his position of authority over students to groom them and attempt to have sex with them; our hope is that there are no other victims,” Sheriff Grady Judd said. “We encourage anyone who has been victimized by Jerron Dunn to please contact law enforcement.”