Former Brownsville Middle School teacher faces sexual battery charges

School officers arrest former PE teacher

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A former physical education teacher at Brownsville Middle School was arrested Thursday on sexual battery charges. 

Wendell Nibbs is facing two counts of sexual battery on a child 12 years of age or older.

One of the girls was 15 years old when the complaint was made and 14 when the alleged sexual abuse happened.

The girl said she kicked and screamed and yelled at Nibbs to stop when he pinned her against his desk and raped her. She said he used his hand to cover her mouth. 

The victim, who is now a high school student, also said "that she did not tell anyone about the defendant forcing her to engage in penile/vaginal and oral sex with him, because she was afraid," Detective Bernise Charlie wrote in an arrest warrant. "She said the defendant threatened her with bodily harm."

For more than two years, Miami-Dade school police detectives investigated several allegations that the teacher had engaged in sexual activity with students at the school. 

Another student alleged Nibbs offered her money in exchange for oral sex. Another girl complained about him allegedly rubbing her leg in a sexual way. Investigators also found a girl who said he had shown her images of a woman's pierced vagina and buttocks, and another former student who said he fondled her and tried to kiss her.  

Charlie said all of these girls reported the incidents, which went as far back as 2004, to school officials but nothing came of the allegations. 

The evidence against Nibbs includes text messages between Nibbs and the student he allegedly raped. A friend told investigators that she believes Nibbs took advantage of the girl because she was being bullied. 

One of the girls told investigators that she came forward because she had a little sister who was going to attend the school and she did not want her to be victimized, according to the arrest warrant. 

Nibbs was set to appear in Miami-Dade County court Friday morning.


About the Authors:

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.