An internal affairs investigation into former Coral Springs school resource officer Raymond Kerner has sustained four separate criminal violations, including sexual battery, lewd and lascivious exhibition, showing obscene material to minors, and battery, according to a report completed on July 30. Despite those findings, prosecutors say they cannot bring charges because too much time has passed since the alleged conduct occurred while Kerner worked at J.P. Taravella High School in Coral Springs.
Kerner was fired from his position as a school resource officer after two former students came forward in April with allegations against him, according to CBS News Miami, which reviewed an internal report on the matter. One woman, who was 21 at the time she made her claim, alleged that Kerner put his hand down her shirt to give her money during an August 2025 boat outing. A second former student alleged that Kerner made a FaceTime video call while fondling himself and showing her pornography. The second woman's alleged conduct occurred while she was a student at Taravella, where Kerner worked from 2013 to 2021.
The internal affairs findings, first detailed by WPLG Local 10, describe the sustained violations in stark terms. Investigators wrote that “Officer Kerner engaging in criminal sexual conduct is unprofessional and is not a standard of a Coral Springs Police Officer,” according to the station's report. Kerner reportedly did not provide a statement to internal affairs investigators during the course of the probe, per the same account.
Why No Criminal Charges Are Coming
The Coral Springs Police Department tried to file charges against Kerner, but the Broward County State Attorney's Office determined that the statute of limitations had already passed. Under Florida Statute 775.15, prosecution for non-capital felony offenses is generally subject to time limits ranging from three to four years unless specific tolling exceptions apply, which explains why prosecutors were legally barred from pursuing charges even though internal investigators concluded criminal conduct occurred.
That legal gap leaves administrative discipline as the primary consequence for now. The available coverage discusses state law enforcement certification and decertification generally but does not establish that Kerner's certification was revoked or that he was barred from rehiring. Because Florida's open-records law makes internal affairs investigations public once they are officially closed, the department publicly announced the completion of the internal affairs investigation and Kerner's termination on Friday, September 4, 2026.
Chief Calls Conduct Inexcusable, Seeks More Victims
Coral Springs Police Chief Brad Mock said Kerner's alleged actions were inexcusable and asked that anyone with additional information or potential victims contact Sergeant Ernesto Bruna at 954-346-1234. Mock said law enforcement officers who work with youth carry an exceptional responsibility to maintain public trust, according to Coral Springs Talk. The chief's public appeal for additional victims suggests investigators believe unreported incidents may exist from Kerner's eight years at Taravella.
Kerner's path back into a school building after his initial retirement illustrates a staffing pattern used across Broward County. He retired from the Coral Springs Police Department in 2022 but was rehired later that year as a part-time seasonal school resource officer, eventually landing an assignment at Eagle Ridge Elementary School, according to Boca Post. He was removed from that elementary school post before his termination. Several Broward municipalities use seasonal certified officers for school resource positions, per a Broward County Public Schools SRO report, a practice that allowed Kerner to keep working in schools despite having already retired once.
A Familiar Name From the Parkland Response
Kerner's name surfaced in local records well before this year's allegations. In 2018, he was interviewed by investigators examining the multi-agency active-shooter response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in nearby Parkland, discussing his training as a Taravella SRO, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel's coverage from that period. He was then serving as a Taravella SRO.
The Coral Springs school resource program operates through an interlocal agreement between the city and the School Board of Broward County. The arrangement places school resource officers in Coral Springs schools, underscoring how central the SRO role is to daily campus operations in the city.
