St. Johns County

Second former Chappell School worker named in lawsuit, accused of inappropriately touching girl

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Another former Chappell School worker is at the center of an investigation, accused of inappropriately touching a 4-year-old girl.

A warrant for lewd and lascivious molestation was written and forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office for review, but the worker, 34-year-old Neal Beaver, is currently not facing any criminal charges. The warrant came to light after 19-year-old Anthony Josiah Guadalupe was arrested, accused of molesting children at the Longleaf campus of the school in July.

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A 45-page police report mentions Beaver as a suspect and said the offending behavior was caught on video numerous times.

In the report, when he spoke to deputies, it said he did not think the behavior was inappropriate and said he didn’t touch children in a sexual manner.

The report said Beaver touched a young girl and the lawsuit mentioned it happened in front of another child.

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation in December 2021. That report said there was surveillance video of the incident and several interactions between the two.

Read: New developments emerge about a former daycare employee accused of molesting several students

The report said there were numerous occasions showing Beaver hugging, holding, touching or rubbing her body.

According to the report, one video that deputies looked at showed Beaver rubbing the child’s back and then lower on her backside and squeezing that area.

As of May 16 this year, the report said a warrant for lewd and lascivious molestation was written and forwarded to the State Attorney’s office for review, but right now, Beaver isn’t facing charges.

Read: Nine families sue St. Johns private preschool following arrest of employee for molesting child

Action News Jax Law and Safety expert Dale Carson, a former police officer and current attorney with decades of experience, said there’s a few reasons why that could be.

“There are a number of things going on here. There’s been a change in the prosecution of these cases. They are now able to use video footage in lieu of actual victim testimony, which is always difficult with young children, so the State Attorney’s Office has to make sure they can bring this conclusively to trial within 175 days of an arrest and all of that seems like a long time, but in criminal justice it’s not,” he said. “Add the fact the individual fled to Germany is another stumbling block.”

The report said a worker was the one who reported the behavior.

Read: Day care employee accused of inappropriately touching girl at school, St. Johns deputies say

Also, a civil lawsuit from parents is also going after the school and two of its workers.

The lawsuit said a woman was watching her child’s classroom video and saw Guadalupe touching two children in what appeared to be a sexual manner.

The lawsuit said the woman took screenshots of that incident and got in contact with the school. The lawsuit then said for at least a month, both Melanie Williams and Heather Benacia knew or should have known about what Guadalupe was accused of doing, but that they didn’t do anything about it.

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It also said they knew about accusations made against Beaver but did nothing. Right now, he is not facing criminal charges.

Carson said the lawsuits’ validity hasn’t been confirmed yet.

“We don’t know whether that is true or not because we don’t know whether not the complaint, which lists the allegations, is accurate and we won’t know that until the conclusion of civil trial or settlement,” he said.

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The website said all staff members are required to report child abuse -- Carson said that’s a requirement.

“If you have access to children in a professional capacity and you become aware a child has been molested or injured in some way you’re required to report that,” he said.

Action News Jax has reached out to the school for comment on both situations but has not heard back yet.

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