Florida volunteer cheerleading coach accused of sending explicit texts to student
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – A South Florida volunteer cheerleading coach is accused of sending explicit text messages to a 14-year-old girl on a school’s junior varsity team, authorities said Wednesday.
Kassidy A. Sottilare, 27, of Lake Worth Beach, was charged with an offense against a student by an authority figure, traveling to meet a minor and driving with a suspended license, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office online booking records.
According to the Boynton Beach Police Department, Sottilare is a volunteer junior varsity cheerleading coach at Boynton Beach Community High School, WPTV-TV reported.
The girl and her mother told police Sottilare requested to follow her on Instagram on Monday night, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Investigators were allowed to search the girl’s cellphone, according to a probable cause affidavit. Detectives used the teen’s cellphone to message Sottilare, the newspaper reported.
Police said the teen told them Sottilare knew she was 14, WPEC-TV reported.
According to an arrest affidavit, Sottilare sent messages about wanting the girl to “give her a kiss” while sitting on her lap and that the girl did not have to wear clothes. Sottilare repeatedly asked the girl to meet with her, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Police said Sottilare, believing she was messaging the teen, texted about sex experience and smoking, WPTV reported.
“Sottilare made statements via text like she knows what girls like, how they like it and where the right spots are,” the arrest affidavit stated.
After she was arrested Wednesday afternoon, Sottilare told detectives she had a “romantic connection” to the girl, knew she was 14 and admitted to driving to pick her up, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
“Parents should absolutely know what their children are doing online,” Boynton Beach police public information officer Stephanie Slater said. “Have the conversation about these apps out there, social media platforms, and that there are people who pretend to be somebody else on these platforms and they can be very dangerous. And that is a very important conversation parents should be having with their children.”
Sottilare’s bail was set at $40,000. She was released on the conditions that she was to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18, no internet or social media access, and no driving unless she had a valid driver’s license, WPTV reported.
The School District of Palm Beach County said in a news release that Sottilare has worked as a data processor for Palm Beach Virtual School, in food services at Coral Sunset Elementary School in 2019 and at Citrus Cove Elementary as an after-school counselor from 2018 through 2021, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
“Although the District has no indication of additional potential victims, the District has reached out to parents of students at all four schools and informed them about the arrest,” the statement said.
Anthony Lockhart, the principal of Boynton Beach Community High School, emailed a letter to parents on Wednesday morning, WPEC reported.
“I want to assure all of our families that our school and the District take all allegations of misconduct very seriously. Ms. Sottilare will not be returning to our campus,” Lockhart wrote. “At this time, we have no indication of other potential victims. However, this remains an active investigation.”
