A Florida substitute teacher was arrested after investigators said he met with a high school student for sex acts over the summer, then inappropriately touched and grabbed her inside a classroom.
Cameron Coverson, who taught at First Coast High School, was taken into custody Monday, September 21, according to an arrest report obtained by Us. He is a former student of the school located in Jacksonville, per Action News Jax.
Court records show Coverson, 27, is charged with two counts of unlawful sexual activity with certain minors, offenses against students by authority figures, traveling to meet a minor to do unlawful acts and unlawful use of a two-way communications device.
He pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, September 23.
During the investigation, a First Coast High school student told a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office police officer that she and Coverson had exchanged phone numbers in May 2026, when he was substitute teaching, according to his arrest report.
They began texting and calling each other, including over FaceTime, when she said he would engage her “in sexually based conversations that she described as ‘student-teacher roleplay,’” the officer wrote in the report.
Coverson is accused of asking her to send a nude photo during a FaceTime call. According to the arrest report, he received a nude image from the minor via text.
On August 1, Coverson allegedly met with the student and engaged in sex acts with her inside of a car, per the report.
The student told the officer that she didn’t see Coverson again “until the school started, but that she continued to speak to and text [him],” the arrest report states.
While Coverson was substitute teaching on September 16, he allegedly sent a text telling her to come into a classroom.
School surveillance cameras captured Coverson and the student entering the classroom, where he began to discuss “what happened over the summer” once they were inside, according to the arrest report.
There were no cameras in the room, where Coverson then allegedly hugged the student and wouldn’t let her go.
He also “‘rubbed’ her buttocks and tried to move her towards the closet,” the report states.
When the student tried to push him away, Coverson allegedly grabbed her wrist and “pulled her towards the closet.”
“She raised her voice and told him to let her go and he did,” the officer wrote in the report.
Two days later, the student’s friend reported what happened to First Coast High School principal Ronnie Williams, who alerted law enforcement.
Coverson is now prohibited from contacting the victim, according to an order dated Friday, September 25.
His defense attorney, Janet E. Johnson, didn’t immediately return a request for comment from Us.
In a statement sent to students’ families, Williams shared that Coverson was arrested and said he worked for a “substitute staffing provider,” First Coast News reported.
“While he is not an employee of Duval County Public Schools, I understand how concerning it is to receive news like this, and I want you to know that I share your concern,” Williams said.
The principal added that the school district is cooperating with law enforcement.
