ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A former teacher at Wekiva High School, accused of sexual battery with a student on campus, was sentenced to 10 years of supervised probation after pleading no contest in court, records show.
Keith Ivey, now 26, was arrested March 29, 2022, four days after a student informed a school resource deputy that a teacher had “a sexual relationship” with another student, according to investigators.
The state is not pursuing prosecution on Ivey’s charge of sexual activity with a 16- or 17-year-old by a school authority figure. Ivey further pleaded no contest on the count of engaging in sexual conduct with the student as an authority figure.
The plea agreement came with the blessing of the victim, who was 17 at the time and is now an adult. In addition to sentencing Ivey to 10 years of supervised probation, the judge ruled he cannot have contact with the victim or live within 1,000 feet of a school during his probation.
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Deputies had interviewed the 17-year-old girl at the time, who told them that Ivey asked her to perform a sex act on him in a closet at the school, according to officials.
Ivey — who the school confirmed worked as a teacher and an assistant basketball coach at Wekiva — was fired the day before his arrest.
Phillip Arroyo, Ivey’s attorney, provided the following statement to the media on Friday afternoon:
After more than a year of zealously advocating for our client, during which the alleged victim in this case consistently and irrefutably refused to move forward with the charges brought by the State of Florida, Mr. Keith Ivey and his family can finally close this chapter and move on with their lives. Make no mistake, Mr. Ivey was not convicted of anything; as the court withheld adjudication (no conviction) on count 2 and the State of Florida dropped count 1.
Just because Mr. Ivey accepted a no contest plea resolution does not mean he is guilty. Approximately 98% of criminal cases in Florida end in plea resolutions either because the risk is too high, or the plea resolution is favorable. In this case, the plea resolution was favorable, because Mr. Ivey will not be convicted, will not become a felon, and will not be a sex offender.
We thank the alleged victim for her heartfelt impact statement read in court today where she expressed never wanting to proceed with this criminal case and for apologizing to Mr. Ivey for what he has had to go through for the past year.
It was an honor to represent Mr. Ivey and I am sure we will see great things from him in the future.
Phillip Arroyo
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