Retired Venice High School ROTC instructor arrested, accused of molesting students
The Brief
A retired ROTC instructor at Venice High School is accused of inappropriately touching female students.
Frank Troxel, 61, is charged with battery and 10 counts of lewd and lascivious behavior.
Before retiring in September 2024, Troxel worked for the district for 12 years.
VENICE, Fla. - A retired ROTC instructor from Venice High School has been arrested after multiple students came forward, saying they had been inappropriately touched.
Frank Troxel, 61, was arrested on Wednesday.
Troxel has been charged with battery and 10 counts of lewd and lascivious behavior.
"You're put in a position of authority and respect and to be taking advantage of that position is just not fair," said parent Fawn Hallsey.
The backstory
Sarasota County Schools Police said multiple female students came forward with disturbing stories.
"It's horrible, and no girl should have to deal with that, no boy should have to deal with that. They come to school to learn and grow and to be in that Junior ROTC. They want to be there for our country and support that and to have to deal with this is heartbreaking," said Hallsey.
An arrest report lists several incidents of unwanted touching, from smacking a student's buttocks, to pulling back and looking into a student's shirt, and to being touched in intimate places while being fitted for uniforms.
One student came forward to a school resource officer in February 2024 and others followed.
"It's surprising that it went this far," said parent Phill Lekic.
Troxel was arrested on Wednesday.
What they're saying
Parents FOX 13 spoke to said they had not been alerted to his arrest by the Sarasota County School District.
While the Sarasota County School Police and district said they could not comment on Troxel's arrest, they told FOX 13 Troxel worked for the district for 12 years and retired in September 2024.
Troxel's retirement fell seven months after his first victim came forward.
"That's very shocking. He's been here for a very long time, and it's disturbing to hear that," said Lekic.
Now that he has been arrested, parents hope the students who came forward can be at peace.
"For those girls to be able to speak out is amazing, and I respect them for being able to do that and for this to be put to an end and I hope they're okay. That's the most important part, and I'm glad he's been caught," said Hallsey.
What's next
Troxel has since bonded out of jail.
He will be back in court on March 28.
The Source
FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon gathered this information for this report.
STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA:
Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV
Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android
Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines
Download the SkyTower Radar app
Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
Follow FOX 13 on YouTube
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
MPD seeks critically missing man; may need medical attention
The Brief Milwaukee police are looking for a missing man, 46-year-old Kevin Shumpert. He was last seen on foot in the area of Lovers Lane Road just south of Silver Spring Drive. Anyone with information is asked to contact Milwaukee Police Department District 4 at 414-935-7242 or 414-935-7360. MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Police Department is seeking assistance in locating a critically missing man. What we know Kevin Shumpert, 46, was last seen on foot around 1:15 a.m. on Monday, June 9 in the area of Lovers Lane Road just south of Silver Spring Drive. He was wearing a black shirt, gray or blue pants, and either unknown or no shoes. Shumpert is believed to be injured and may need medical attention. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android He is described as 6'3" tall, 200 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. What you can do Anyone with information is asked to contact Milwaukee Police Department District 4 at 414-935-7242 or 414-935-7360. The Source The information in this post was provided by the Milwaukee Police Department.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Milwaukee shooting Sunday near 11th and Locust; 1 wounded
The Brief Milwaukee police are investigating a shooting that occurred on Sunday, June 8 near 11th and Locust. The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment of injuries. Police are looking for whoever is responsible. MILWAUKEE - A shooting in Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon, June 8 left one person wounded. It happened around 3:30 p.m. near 11th and Locust. What we know Police say the victim, a 35-year-old, sustained a non-fatal gunshot wound. The victim was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android Police are looking for whoever is responsible. What you can do Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at 414-935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-Tips or P3 Tips. The Source The information in this post was provided by the Milwaukee Police Department.
Tom's Guide
2 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
Delete these 20 apps right now if you downloaded them from the Play Store — they're malicious
If you've recently downloaded a crypto app from the Google Play Store, you should probably check this list from Cyble Research and Intelligence Labs (CRIL) just to be safe Cybersecurity researchers at CRIL recently found 20 malicious apps managed to infiltrate the Play Store in order to trick users by appearing to be legitimate wallet apps providing crypto services. PC Mag reports that the apps have since been removed from the Play Store, however, some of them were downloaded hundreds of thousands of times which many people could be at risk from having their digital funds drained by threat actors. Here is the full list of malicious apps found stealing cryptocurrency on the Play Store: While there are 20 malicious apps in this list overall, many of them use the same app name but have different package names. Regardless though, you're going to want to delete any app with one of the names listed above even if they have different developers. These fake apps will remain on a device until they are manually removed so the first step to ensuring that you are safe is to check and see if you have downloaded any of them by mistake. The threat actors created multiple fake apps for services like SushiSwap, Harvest Finance blog, Meteora Exchange, OpenOcean Exchange, Pancake Swap, Raydium, Bulix Crypto, Hyperliquid and Suiet Wallet. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Users who installed the malicious apps were redirected to a URL that asked for the 12-word recovery phrase that is connected to their official crypto currency wallets. Using this phrase, a threat actor could remove the funds from these wallets. The attackers who developed these fake apps used developer accounts on the Play Store that were already established as legitimate and that had other non-malicious, clean apps on offer like Android games. This added legitimacy to the operation and was likely how they managed to slip past Google's defenses in the first place. Those who have been infected should find an alternate way to access the crypto wallet without using the fake app, then changing their access information and report the potentially malicious access directly to their crypto service. If you are still concerned, you can also remove your funds from the account and put them in an alternative service. In order to stay safe from malicious apps, you want to make sure that Google Play Protect is enabled on your smartphone. This free app comes pre-installed on all of the best Android phones and it can scan your existing apps as well as any new ones you download for malware. For extra protection though, you might also want to run one of the best Android antivirus apps alongside it. There's loads of money to be made from crypto for cybercriminals and fake apps are one of the easiest ways for them to gain a foothold on your smartphone. This is why you want to be extra careful when downloading new apps, though you also should limit the number of apps you have overall as even good apps can go bad.
