‘Mother figure’ teacher accused of molesting girl in closet at Hollywood school
A Hollywood middle school teacher was arrested Wednesday after police say she developed a “maternal relationship” with a student, then touched her inappropriately and kissed her in the closet of her classroom during school hours.
Felicia Smith, 39, a teacher at Driftwood Middle School, is charged with lewd or lascivious molestation of a minor and lewd or lascivious battery, Hollywood Police said in a media release.
Officers arrested Smith after they “were made aware” of the relationship Wednesday, according to the release. The girl, unknown to her family, had been skipping her first and sixth period classes to meet with Smith in her classroom since February, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The girl’s uncle told police that when he picked his niece up from school Tuesday, he saw a mark on her cheek, according to the affidavit. She told him she had been hit in the face by a football. When he asked her who had hit her, she said it was a boy but she didn’t know his name.
Her uncle contacted the school and learned that the girl had been skipping her gym class for weeks to go to Smith’s classroom. Smith then spoke to the uncle, apologizing and saying that the girl had been coming to her to talk about issues at home. She said that when the girl came to her classroom on Tuesday, she already had the mark on her face.
The girl’s uncle began to think that the mark was a hickey, not a bruise, but thought it must have come from another student, the affidavit states. When the two came to the school together on Wednesday to meet with the assistant principal, the uncle noticed another hickey on her neck.
When they returned home, the girl began crying and told her uncle that the mark was a hickey and Ms. Smith had given it to her, according to the affidavit. The girl then admitted that Ms. Smith had done more than give her a hickey.
In a statement to police, she said that she began skipping her first and sixth period classes in February. During sixth period, Smith was alone, and the girl would vent to her about a hard day or her grandmother’s health. She said she thought of Smith as a “mother figure,” according to the affidavit.
On Tuesday, the girl said Smith took her into the closet during sixth period and kissed her on the neck and cheeks and touched her neck and thighs, according to the affidavit. When asked about the hickey on her neck, she said earlier that same week, Smith had again taken her into the closet, where she also placed the girl’s hand in her pants. These encounters had taken place more than three times, she said.
Asked if she ever told Smith to stop, the girl said she knew it was wrong “in the back of her head” but was afraid to disappoint or upset the teacher. Smith told her not to tell anyone because she could lose her job.
Smith told police that she and the girl had developed a “maternal relationship” at the beginning of the year and said she had “grabbed her cheek giving her a kiss that left a mark” and told her she loved her, but denied touching her inappropriately. When officers told Smith what the girl had said, she refused to speak further.
Smith was hired by the district in 2019 as a substitute teacher, before beginning work at Driftwood Middle in 2022 as a language arts teacher.
“An employee who works as a teacher has been arrested by Hollywood Police,” the school’s principal, Steven Williams, said in a message to parents about 11 a.m. Thursday. “While I am not able to provide details due to the ongoing case, I want you to know the individual has been reassigned away from our school and students pending the outcome of the investigation.”
Hollywood Police is working with the Broward School Board in the ongoing investigation, police said.
“The safety of our students is always our top priority,” the school district said in a statement. “Broward County Public Schools is fully cooperating with the Hollywood Police Department in its investigation.”