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Miami-Dade School Board Sued After Teacher Had Sex With Teen

A teenager has filed a lawsuit against the Miami-Dade School Board and her former teacher after she alleges her teacher had sex with her last year.

Bressnniel Jansen, who was arrested at South Dade High School earlier this year, admitted to having sex with one of his students. He pleaded guilty to five felony counts, including unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

The 16-year-old teen, who does not want to be identified, says the school district failed to protect her.

"What he did was entirely wrong," she said. "He took advantage of his position. As an adult he took advantage. You would think that someone twice your age would know better."

Back in 2008, school district officials investigated claims that Jansen had an inappropriate relationship with a female student. Five years later, he admitted guilt in this separate case.

The teen's lawyer said the district should have heeded the warning signs years ago. He claims the school received complaints about the teacher but still allowed Jansen to teach unsupervised.

"Does anybody think it is a coincidence that five years earlier, there was a complaint about the same teacher making inappropriate advances on another young student of his, and the school board did nothing about it," said attorney John Leighton.

The teen said the school did nothing to prevent the same thing from happening again.

"I am just in shock that after what occurred in 2008 happened again and they allowed him to stay there," she said.

The 22-page lawsuit against the district complains it was negligent in not providing a safe environment for the student, allowing Jansen "access to female students, privacy in his classroom, and no supervision. Female students at the school were at grave risk for sexual abuse."

When NBC 6 reached out to Miami-Dade Schools for a comment, a spokesperson responded, "The school district does not comment on pending litigation."

Jansen is serving 10 years of probation as part of his plea agreement. He was added to the state's list of registered sex offenders.

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