Former Miami teacher Wendell Nibbs pleads guilty to sexually assaulting three students
Wendell Alfredo “Kimo” Nibbs, the former Brownsville Middle School physical-education teacher accused of multiple criminal sexual assault cases and sexual misconduct against nine female students in his 15-year career, pleaded guilty Thursday.
Nibbs, 53, faces eight years in prison, followed by 10 years of probation with electronic monitoring and will be required to register as a sex offender for life, according to his plea agreement provided by the state attorney’s office. He will also have to successfully complete a mentally disordered sexual offender treatment program. He is barred from teaching.
David Peckins, Nibbs’ lawyer, could not be reached for comment.
Nibbs pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child in familial or custodial custody. He first pleaded not guilty to those charges in September. He was first arrested in 2017 after police said he raped his 15-year-old student and rearrested last March on two more charges of raping students.
Five of Nibbs’ alleged victims have filed civil lawsuits in federal court against the Miami-Dade County school district for negligence. Those cases are headed toward mediation with the school district.
The Miami Herald uncovered how Nibbs was able to stay in the classroom after students repeatedly accused him of misconduct. He was also in the United Teachers of Dade’s inner circle and was a forceful advocate for union leadership.
Nibbs, an imposing figure at Brownsville Middle at 6 feet 4 inches and about 250 pounds, was only moved away from students while under investigation during the first and seventh allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior. Questions arose over how the district’s civilian investigators and police handled inquiries into the allegations against Nibbs.
Every allegation was found to be unsubstantiated until the seventh investigation. Two more students came forward alleging rape after that, and previous allegations were reopened.
During the Herald’s investigation, the school district changed its procedures to assign all allegations of a sexual nature to Miami-Dade Schools Police, and all allegations of sexual battery to Miami-Dade Police. School district investigators are no longer able to independently close cases of a sexual nature.
The Miami-Dade School Board passed measures to provide training sensitive to survivors of trauma for police and school staff and review procedures used to investigate district employees. The State Board of Education now requires superintendents to act more quickly when they learn of misconduct by teachers or administrators that could put children at risk.
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 2:58 PM.