Manatee substitute arrested after sending ‘unclothed’ picture to student, deputies say
A substitute teacher has been arrested after having an inappropriate relationship with at least one local student, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Joseph Prevatte, 39, is facing felony charges in Manatee and Hillsborough County after detectives say he is suspected of inappropriate relationships with students in both counties.
Investigators at the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said they received a tip through FortifyFL on Oct. 31 alleging a substitute teacher was sending inappropriate messages to a Manatee County high school student.
During the investigation, detectives say they learned Prevatte, a Hillsborough County resident, exchanged messages with a student on Instagram for a few weeks, with some of the messages having a “sexual undertone.”
Detectives say in one of those messages, Prevatte sent a student a picture of himself unclothed but cropped to exclude his genitalia.
Lt. Mark Morie with the sheriff’s office’s Crimes Against Children Unit said the case serves as a prime example of why parents must monitor their children’s social media activity.
“I tell everybody to be vigilant with your kids. I don’t care if they’re 16, I don’t care if they’re 8. If they have some kind of social media, whether it be Roblox or whether it be Instagram or Snapchat, just know what your kids are doing, know who they’re talking to,” Morie said.
The sheriff’s office said the School District of Manatee County prevented Prevatte from working teaching jobs within the district pending the outcome of the investigation.
Manatee substitute teacher arrested, deputies say
The sheriff’s office says deputies arrested Prevatte in Hillsborough County on Nov. 8 and charged him with soliciting or engaging in lewd conduct with a student, a second-degree felony.
At the same time, the sheriff’s office said deputies discovered that investigators with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office were also investigating Prevatte for an inappropriate relationship involving a minor in Hillsborough County.
Hillsborough deputies arrested Prevatte on Nov. 19 for lewd or lascivious battery and harmful explicit communication to a minor, according to a news release.
The investigation is ongoing and detectives believe there could be additional victims. Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at (941) 747-3011.
This story was originally published November 19, 2024 at 5:07 PM.
