Fort Myers teacher’s assistant arrested amid ongoing investigation into rape of student

Reporter: Claire Galt
Published: Updated:
royal palm school
Lauren King. CREDIT: Lee County Sheriff’s Office

The Fort Myers Police Department has confirmed the arrest of a Fort Myers school teacher’s assistant amid an ongoing investigation into the rape of a student with a learning disability.

A large police presence was seen at The Enclave in Fort Myers during the arrest of Lauren King, a teacher’s assistant at Royal Palm Exceptional Center in Fort Myers, late Thursday morning.

FMPD is investigating allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a male teenage student that escalated from texts to sexual contact.

According to FMPD, the victim disclosed that King had requested the victim’s phone number and began texting sexual messages, including nude photographs and videos of her performing sex acts on herself.

Over a one-month span, police said, in a social media post, “over 4,000 text messages were exchanged between King and the victim which ultimately resulted in King meeting the student outside of school hours where she sexually battered the victim.”

We spoke to the victim’s father on the phone. He said it’s hard to put into words the pain he feels for his son.

“Anger. Sadness. Frustration. Sadness. I’m his father, and I’m supposed to protect him. I couldn’t protect him. That broke my heart,” he said.

His father said his son is staying strong despite the abuse. He hopes he can stay strong, too.

“I just have to keep a straight face and smile for my son, so that he doesn’t see any fear or any anger or any sadness,” his father said.

Detectives reviewed all of the evidence and charged King with lewd or lascivious battery and lewd or lascivious molestation.

On Wednesday, detectives were granted an arrest warrant for King, and on Thursday, she was located and arrested by the U.S. Marshals Regional Task Force and the Fort Myers Police Department.

She remains in the Lee County Jail, Thursday evening.

FMPD encourages any other victims of King to contact FMPD at 239-321-7700.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.