A mother says she’s still waiting for answers after her daughter became the alleged victim in a sexual battery investigation inside a South Florida juvenile treatment facility.
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The mother, who wanted to be identified only as Amanda, told NBC6 on Tuesday that she hasn’t been able to speak with her daughter since the incident at Pompano Youth Academy, leaving her feeling helpless and angry.
“I immediately started crying, my eyes were swollen, my face was swollen,” Amanda said. “I don’t know what to do.”
The alleged incident
Officials said they received a report on Sunday of a possible sexual battery at the Pompano Youth Academy, a Florida Department of Juvenile Justice facility, located at 3090 North Powerline Road.
Online records show Pompano Youth Academy is a “moderate-risk” residential facility for females ages 13-18.
A former employee, 32-year-old Jess Delgardo, was arrested and accused of sexually battering Amanda’s daughter, an 18-year-old inmate at the facility.
According to the arrest report, the victim told deputies she and Delgardo, who worked as a guardian at the facility, exchanged flirtatious notes before he allegedly entered her room one night, exposed himself, and had sex with her.
Officials say that because the victim is an inmate, she could not give consent to Delgardo, who was her direct care worker.
Mother alleges lack of communication and a trauma relived
Amanda said she immediately began asking questions, showing NBC6 an email she sent to the director of the facility, Pamela Rollins.
She said her calls and emails have gone unanswered, and maintains that she has not been allowed to speak with her daughter.
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“All we know is that she was assaulted, and that is as far as I know. That’s all I’ve been told,” she said. “I’m worried, are they doing something? Are they not allowing her to call?”
Pompano Youth Academy provided a statement on Monday about the initial allegations, stating in part that it was “cooperating with law enforcement regarding the allegations involving a former employee who has been terminated.”
The facility has not responded to requests for comment about the alleged lack of communication between the victim and her mother.
Amanda said the situation feels deeply personal, saying she experienced something similar when she was a child.
“It happened to me when I was a child in the juvenile facilities that I was placed in,” she said. “Any woman, or child, or young girl that is in a mandated facility should not have the opportunity to number one, develop a relationship, nor have that type of intimate contact.”
Amanda now wants her daughter transferred out, saying she no longer trusts the system.
“It was allowed to happen to me, and I refuse to let it happen to her. She doesn’t deserve that,” she said. “She is there for correction. How is this correcting her?”
Delgardo was booked into jail and later appeared before a judge, who set his bond at $30,000.
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice said Delgardo wasn’t an employee of the department but worked for a “contracted provider” who operates the facility.
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The department said the contracted provider has fired Delgardo.