A teacher at a charter school in West Palm Beach, accused of inappropriately touching a student, was arrested on Monday, authorities said.
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Robert Rivernider was charged with lewd and lascivious behavior on a minor between 12 and 16 years old and battery.
According to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, deputies on Monday arrived at Renaissance Charter School at Summit after receiving reports of an incident involving a student and a teacher.
An arrest report said that the student told deputies that there was an incident that happened on Saturday on the school’s field during a party.
The student said that she was sitting at a bench near the school’s entrance when Rivernider sat next to her, told her to scoot over, and then squeezed her butt, the report said.
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Before that incident, the student said Rivernider would make inappropriate comments and said he wished there weren’t that many people around so that they could do inappropriate things together, the report said.
The student, the report said, told two of her friends what had happened.
During an interview with Rivernider, he denied that he had inappropriately touched the student or made those comments, but did say he had a closer friendship with her than other students and admitted to having physical contact, which included hugging, the report said.
Rivernider was then taken into custody.
NBC6 affiliate WPTV received a statement from the school’s principal that Rivernider was fired.
“We would like to share an important update with you. We have been advised of the arrest of a teacher who worked at our school. We are proud of the individual who did the right thing by reporting concerns to a trusted adult. Once the information was brought forward, we immediately contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and took all appropriate actions. Please know that the individual who was arrested is no longer employed at our school and will not return to campus. Thank you for your continued support as we work together to build strong minds and good hearts.”
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