The Boynton Beach elementary school teacher is accused of rape and denies the allegations

The Palm Beach County School District removed the teacher from Sunset Palms Elementary after a former student accused him of rape.

Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of child sexual abuse that readers may find disturbing.

WEST PALM BEACH — After school ended, administrators welcomed back to campus a teacher accused of rapehis teenage accuser sued those responsible for hiring him.

In a federal lawsuit filed last month, the girl accused the Palm Beach County School Board of inviting danger into its buildings when it hired Dax Rankine, a man whose criminal record once caused the Florida Board of Education to reject his application for denied a teaching license.

The lawsuit revives rape allegations that the child, now in ninth grade, first reported to school police in 2023.

The girl said then and now that Rankine, a physical education teacher at suburban Sunset Palms Elementary School Boynton Beachgroomed and raped her between second and fourth grade. She said the abuse ended in 2020, after the spread of COVID-19 forced in-person classes to end.

Rankine, 47, started working at Sunset Palms in 2012. He was cleared of wrongdoing by the school district but removed from campus this month in the wake of the lawsuit. He has denied the allegations through his lawyer. As a policy, the school district does not comment on open litigation.

Citing a lack of evidence, school officials deemed the claims unfounded

In her lawsuit, the student said she had known Rankine since she was in kindergarten. Even then, she said she found him “touchy,” often standing too close for comfort.

The child, identified in the lawsuit as Janie Doe, said Rankine began touching her breasts and inner thighs under the guise of helping her stretch for gym class in second and third grade. Doe said the abuse escalated in fourth grade when Rankine cornered her in the campus bathroom and raped her twice.

Both times, Doe said Rankine told her she would “get in trouble” if she told anyone what happened. She first made the allegations during a therapy session in 2023, prompting investigations by school and government authorities.

According to public records, no one could verify her account.

The school district placed Rankine on paid leave in November 2023 while it conducted a months-long investigation into the allegations. Rankine issued a statement through his attorneys denying any wrongdoing, but declined the district’s invitation for a voluntary interview.

Doe’s mother also rejected numerous attempts by district investigators to interview her daughter, according to emails in Rankine’s personnel file.

The mother said her daughter, who had provided the same story to police and an agent with the Florida Department of Children and Families, did not want to undergo a third round of questioning.

When the mother was told that the school district could not rely on interviews by other agencies, the mother again refused.

“Are you saying the school board is refusing to investigate based on her previous two testimonies?” she wrote in February. “Will this school board allow this pedophile to continue to have contact with children?”

Rankine remained on paid leave while the school district investigated the claims without the cooperation of the accuser or the accused. Karen Riddle, president of Sunset Palms, filed an affidavit in April vouching for Rankine’s work ethic.

“He has always been a great teacher and is an excellent supervisor,” she said. “I could always trust him with security. There were never any problems.”

The school district deemed Doe’s allegations unfounded the following month.

At the conclusion of a separate investigation, school police recommended that Rankine be charged with sexual battery of a person under the age of 12, a crime for which offenders can be sentenced to death or life in prison. Prosecutors at the state’s attorney’s office declined to move forward with charges, citing a lack of evidence.

Still, in an email days after the lawsuit was filed, Sunset Palms’ principal told parents that Rankine had been removed from campus and would not return.

Palm Beach County School Board accused of turning a blind eye to alleged abuser

Doe’s lawsuit accuses the Palm Beach County School Board of willfully ignoring Rankine’s criminal history, including arrests for hit-and-run, simple battery, drunken driving and drug possession.

Doe’s attorney, Marc Wites, argued in the lawsuit that this history alone should have deterred the district from hiring Rankine. Initially, it prevented the state licensing board from approving Rankine’s teaching application, although Rankine successfully appealed the decision.

“The family and community of parents who have children at that school are deeply disappointed, not only because this teacher was at the school in the first place, based on his public records of prior arrests that make him unfit to be a teacher, but that the school removed him from the classroom a year after our client reported,” Wites said Monday.

Doe has demanded a jury trial, and U.S. District Court Judge Robin Rosenberg will preside over the case. No trial date has been set.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, the Palm Beach County Victim Services and Rape Crisis Center can help. Reach their helpline at 561-833-7273, or toll free at 866-891-7273.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Hannah Phillips covers criminal law at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at [email protected]. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.