OKEECHOBEE, FL– A 36-year-old man who serves as both a high school preacher and a middle school basketball and baseball coach is facing charges of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.
Authorities began investigating Danny Raney of Okeechobee High School and Yearling Middle School after the victim’s mother found concerning messages on her daughter’s phone and contacted the police.
The mother told authorities that she’d bought her daughter a new phone and found the concerning messages between two teachers on the old phone while switching over the data.
The two teachers have since been identified as Coach Omar Ayala and Pastor Donny Raney.
The victim told authorities that she was involved with Ayala but when they broke up she began seeing other guys including Raney.
According to the report, authorities told the mother that since the victim was 18 at the time of their relationship with Ayala, no criminal charges could be filed against him but she could report him to the school board.
The Okeechobee County School Board determined that Ayala could no longer coach any female sports, have girls in his classroom during lunch, and could not interact with the victim.
After looking into Raney, authorities determined that though the student was 18 at the time they started dating, he violated state law by being an “authority figure engaging in a romantic relationship with a student.”
Raney was taken into custody and his bond was set at $50,000.