Men

Daniel Norment, Jupiter teacher arrested for unlawful sexual activity with minor

Published

4 years ago

May 12, 2022

Authorities in Palm Beach County have arrested a teacher for allegedly committing a sex offense on a 16-year-old pupil two years ago.

Daniel Norment, 41, is a math teacher at Independence Middle School, situated at 4001 Greenway Drive in Jupiter, according to the School District of Palm Beach County.

Norment was detained at 5 p.m. Tuesday on charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and a sex offense by an authority figure against a pupil, according to jail records.

Norment was the victim’s eighth-grade teacher at Independence Middle School, according to his arrest report, and would tell her “she was different and mature for her age” and “gave her wonderful scores for doing nothing.”

When the girl was in high school, she would visit Norment at Independence Middle School on a regular basis, assisting him with paperwork, cleaning his classroom, and simply hanging around.

According to the police complaint, Norment became more intimate with the pupil over time, holding her, caressing her back, and kissing her on the cheek.

He touched her “passionately (touching her breast and butt) over her clothing” on one occasion, kissed her on the lips, and told her he was falling in love with her, according to police.

“But liked her favorite instructor,” the student told investigators, even if she thought Norment’s behavior was inappropriate.

When the girl was 16, she went to Norment’s classroom at the start of her 11th-grade year, and he “grew more forceful and passionate,” stroking her breasts and rear.

The teacher then brought the girl into a closet in his classroom, stripped her of her clothes, and had sex with her, according to Norment’s police report.

“Some of the incidents she has blacked out,” the girl, who is now 18 and in college, said.

The girl reported the incident to authorities in March, telling Palm Beach County school police she came forward two years later “due to this upsetting her every day,” adding that “Norment should not be around youth,” according to Norment’s arrest record.

According to the girl, “Norment used her and understood that having sex at school was bad,” she says, adding that “she suffers with the incident and [is] not sure whether she will ever be able to settle it in her mind.”

Three assistant principals at Independence Middle School testified during the police inquiry that they had “known of some questionable non-criminal activity by Norment while teaching at the school for the past couple of years.”

Norment was “reprimanded for various ethical violations involving school children,” according to his arrest report, including “counseling” pupils in his classroom closet and allowing members of the girls’ basketball team to change into their jerseys inside his classroom while he waited outside.

Norment told officers on March 22 that “he felt it was best to seek out an attorney’s counsel,” according to the arrest report.

Principal Amber Saunders confirmed Norment’s arrest in a letter to parents sent out Tuesday, stating the teacher was relocated to a “non-student contact job away from the school in March” after school district police received a complaint about him.

Saunders said in her letter that the accusation involves “an incident that the complainant said occurred two years ago while she was a youngster.”

“Today, Norment was arrested as a result of the investigation,” Saunders stated. “He is charged with two felony counts of illicit sex with a minor.”

Norment has worked at Independence Middle School for nearly six years, according to Saunders.

No interaction with anyone under the age of 18 and no contact with any Palm Beach County School District properties.

Saunders said that if students or parents have any information regarding Norment that could assist detectives, they should call the School District of Palm Beach County’s Police Department at 561-434-8700.

Last known contact information:
Address: 101 Wingate Dr Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone: (501) 442-8117
Email: heathnorment@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heath.norment