Parents Outraged Topic Of Accused Rapist At Monarch High Not Addressed At Town Hall
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COCONUT CREEK (CBSMiami) – Parents at a Broward school are outraged an accused rapist is in class with their children. And they're just as furious it wasn't a topic addressed at a town hall meeting Wednesday night.
"I thought they would talk about the elephant in the room," said concerned parent Marisol. "That's what's been going around on social media with the adults as well as the children."
Parents at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek are fired up following a town hall meeting where they hoped to discuss their concerns over a student accused in an off-campus rape.
Wednesday night's town hall meeting was scheduled months ago to discuss another topic, but some parents and students thought school administrators should have given them the opportunity to address the issue that just recently came to light.
"I don't think it's fair that we just can't have the conversation," Marisol said.
"He could have been home schooled. He could have done FLVS. There's other opportunities than to come to school, stir up the pot," a student said.
Gibson Sylvain, 19, is out on bond following his August arrest.
He's accused of sexually assaulting a woman at this bus stop at State Road 7 and Hillsboro Blvd. in October of 2016.
According to court documents, DNA evidence linked Sylvain to the alleged crime after a match came up on a state DNA investigative database in July.
"If they let him get away with coming here, what kind of examples are they setting for other students? That it's OK to do what he did?" another concerned parent said.
According to the state attorney' office, Judge William Haury Jr. "issued an order allowing the defendant to return to school."
The Broward County State Attorney's Office asked the court to reconsider its decision but the judge refused.
Late Wednesday, the State Attorney's Office filed a motion asking for the pretrial detention of the student.
In the motion filed with the Broward Clerk of Courts, the state asks the court to order Sylvain to be jailed instead because he "poses a threat of harm to the community and there are no conditions of release that can reasonably protect the community from risk of physical harm."
School officials did not want to comment on the situation.
School board lawyer Babara Myrick issued a brief statement.
"This child has as much right to an education as anybody. He has not been proven guilty and I also want to remind everybody, this kid was in school all of last year," Myrick said.
CBS4 News has reached out to Sylvain several times but has not heard back. His attorney did not want to comment.
The State Attorney's Office is asking for their motion to be heard at Sylvain's previously-scheduled court hearing this coming Tuesday.
