FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA — A former Florida teacher who had previously been arrested for inappropriately touching a six-year-old girl was arrested again this week.
Damian Francis, 44, was charged with a second count of lewd and lascivious behavior on a minor, WSVN reported on Wednesday.
Francis was a first-grade teacher at Endeavour Primary Learning Center until October when he was arrested for lewd conduct with a minor.
“One of the victims told their mother she did not want to wear skirts to school, which is what led her mother to grow suspicious,” the station reported after the first arrest.
“Two little girls accused him of rubbing their legs up and down when they would go to his desk at the back of the classroom. […] According to the police report, Francis admitted to hugging and touching students on several occasions and didn’t have an explanation as to why.”
In the latest police report, the victim accused Francis of “touching her ‘everywhere’ under her clothes, touching her groin, and back area before touching her genital area with his fingers.”
In September 2021, over a year prior to Francis’ first arrest in October 2022, another one of his students had complained about him. Assistant State Attorney Eric Linder said in court that it was “extremely aggravating” that Francis had not been charged at that time.
“They need to know who they are hiring in schools,” one parent told WSVN. “They’re just giving anybody a job nowadays. They don’t even know who they have around these kids.”
“I would rather do home school or something,” another parent said. “I can’t trust these teachers around my kids.”
