| Polk County middle-school teacher suspected of molesting girls The Associated Press July 22. 2005 10:36AM Authorities are looking for a 50-year-old Polk County middle school teacher who they say molested two girls and then tried to buy airline tickets out of the country. Darryl Lynn Swygert, 50, of Winter Haven faces two counts of sexual battery on victims younger than 9, a Polk County arrest warrant said. The alleged victims, sisters who were 8 and 9 at the time, were not Swygert's students, sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said. Swygert is accused of molesting the girls during sleepovers last year at his house with his daughter. Swygert, a math teacher at Dundee Ridge Middle School in Lakeland since 1999, has been placed on administrative leave with pay, the school district said. On July 8, a Lakeland travel agent called the sheriff's office to report that Swygert had tried on June 28 to buy a plane ticket to either South America or Thailand. The travel agent grew concerned after noticing that Swygert had all his belongings packed in his car and did not book him a flight. Swygert already was under investigation at the time, Rodgers said. http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050722/APN/507220766 |