FL - School principal Tracy Smith, 43, accused of having inappropriate relationship with student - 4/19/23

[Bishop Black]

Florida prep school principal allegedly sexually abused student who viewed her as 'mother figure': report

Authorities accuse Tracy Smith, 43, of sexual misconduct with a student while she was the principal of a Coral Spring, Florida, prep school

www.foxnews.com

A Florida private school principal is accused of sexually abusing a male student who opened up to her about family issues, according to a local news report.

Tracy Smith, 43, was the head of Xceed Preparatory Academy in Coral Springs, Florida, when she allegedly began a sexual relationship with a student, according to CBS Miami, which cited her arrest report.

The student reportedly told police when Smith allegedly began touching him during study sessions it was "comforting" at first, but the longer it went on, the more he became uncomfortable, according to CBS Miami.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Broward County Case Number: 23004153CF10A
Smith, Tracy Michelle
Case Type: 2nd Degree Felony
Case Status: Pending

- Broward County Clerk of Courts

www.browardclerk.org

 

[MissMalowe]

Interesting choice of phrasing..... "sexual relationship?" That prep school is grades 6-12. I wouldn't refer to a school principal grooming & sexually abusing a middle or high school student as a "sexual relationship" I guess because it's a woman, people/the media don't want to call a spade a spade or rather call a child molester a child molester?

Tracy Smith, 43, was the head of Xceed Preparatory Academy in Coral Springs, Florida, when she allegedly began a sexual relationship with a student,

Xceed Prep Academy | College Prep Self-Paced Private School
Sexual relationship - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

 

[Eli9]

Something in her eyes tells me she always knew she could be caught and that she knew it was wrong.
I'm not giving her a pause at all. She knew it was wrong. She was the adult.

 

[PayrollNerd]

I wonder if more victims will come forward, either students or the children of friends of the family.

 

[Eli9]

I wonder if more victims will come forward, either students or the children of friends of the family.

Gawd I hope not. I've never looked into the statistics of this dynamic though.

 

[Bishop Black]

Interesting choice of phrasing..... "sexual relationship?" That prep school is grades 6-12. I wouldn't refer to a school principal grooming & sexually abusing a middle or high school student as a "sexual relationship" I guess because it's a woman, people/the media don't want to call a spade a spade or rather call a child molester a child molester?



Xceed Prep Academy | College Prep Self-Paced Private School
Sexual relationship - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

Well, I honestly think that the reality that males cannot get pregnant from an illegal relationship plays a role in public perception and that this is somewhat invariable.

 

[Eloise]

Well, I honestly think that the reality that males cannot get pregnant from an illegal relationship plays a role in public perception and that this is somewhat invariable.

I think there's more than just the possibility of pregnancy. There's also a misperception that if sex happened then the male got an erection and therefore its consensual, which is obviously wrong twice over (abuse could occur whether or not there was an erection and even if there was, arousal does not equal consent).

Also pregnancy hurts more than just a female victim - in the case of a male victim/female abuser, if the abuser got pregnant with her victim's baby, where does the law stand on child support? Now that baby grows up knowing its mother was the rapist. Quite an awful situation that would create.

 

[angelbaker]

Gawd I hope not. I've never looked into the statistics of this dynamic though.

But if it were a male teacher, we would all know there were more victims. There should be no gender differences in crimes like this. An adult (and especially one in a position of authority) abusing a child is an adult abusing a child and if they have made it to the rank of principal and not gotten caught- it is likely because they have JUST not gotten caught.

 

[MissMalowe]

Well, I honestly think that the reality that males cannot get pregnant from an illegal relationship plays a role in public perception and that this is somewhat invariable.

I would agree with your statement. I got curious last night about the reasoning and went down a bit of a rabbit hole of articles about it...

our society has trouble seeing women as sexual predators for several reasons. First, stereotypes paint women as caregivers and men as “strong and mostly invulnerable,” so “being the victim of any crime that isn’t committed by another man challenges our notions of male strength.” We also expect men to initiate sex, so it’s difficult for us to imagine the reverse. Finally, Smiler told me, our assumption is that men always want sex. We have trouble envisioning a scenario in which a man has sex against his will.

Debra Lafave: Why We Can’t See Women as Sexual Predators, and Why It Matters

A couple of the articles also touched on public perceptions being that male perps are viewed as being sexually motivated and female perps being emotionally motivated, hence the difference in wording when describing the crimes, as we saw in the article here about Tracey Smith. It also mentioned female sexual abusers getting lighter sentences than male abusers particularly if they were attractive. (Also interesting I thought)

Is she on paid administrative leave? Fired already? I see from PayrollNerd's post/info, she's out on bond.