Ex-Coach Charged in 2012 Rape of Student in Miami-Dade

A former football coach and security guard at American Senior High School is facing a first-degree felony charge after Miami-Dade authorities accused him of raping a 17-year-old student inside the athletic office in August 2012. William Adam Jones, 46, was arrested after deputies said he assaulted the student while she worked on the football team's schedule under his supervision, and he now faces the possibility of life in prison. According to WPLG Local 10, the student was 17 and participating in the school's football program when Jones entered the athletic office while she was working there in August 2012. Per the arrest warrant, she was in shock and froze during the assault. Deputies said the two went on to have sexual intercourse three more times at the school before she turned 18, and the outlet reports that a relationship developed between them while she was still a student. After she turned 18, the student and Jones had consensual sexual intercourse at her home, the outlet reported. The arrest warrant for Jones was obtained on Tuesday. He was charged with first-degree felony sexual battery by a person in a position of familial or custodial authority. As of Tuesday morning, the Miami-Dade County jail website did not list Jones as an inmate, the station's report noted. The gap between the alleged 2012 assault and this week's arrest spans more than a decade. Florida Statute § 775.15 addresses the state's statute-of-limitations rules, but the sources cited here do not establish how those rules apply to this case. The charge itself carries severe consequences because of Jones's role at the school. Under Florida Statute § 794.011(8)(b), the offense is punishable as a life felony. The cited material does not detail how consent is treated under the law. Florida lawmakers have separately moved to reclassify sex offenses committed against students by school employees and coaches to higher severity tiers, citing the inherent power dynamics authority figures hold over students, according to a Florida House of Representatives staff analysis. Jones worked at American Senior High School from 2007 through 2019, employed as a football coach and security guard, per the station's report. The school, located at 18350 NW 67th Ave. in the County Club neighborhood, was established in 1976 during the U.S. Bicentennial and enrolled roughly 1,627 students during the 2023–2024 school year, according to background cited in a related Hoodline report on Miami-Dade schools. It operates within Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the nation's third-largest public school system, serving more than 335,000 students across over 500 sites. After leaving the high school, Jones went on to work as an officer for the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department. Following his arrest, MDCR relieved Jones of duty pending the outcome of the investigation, per a statement from the department. MDCR said it would continue to cooperate fully with the investigation and confirmed the matter remains under active investigation. Jones currently lives in Hollywood, Florida, the outlet reported. Several questions remain open for further reporting, including whether American Senior High School or Miami-Dade County Public Schools received any prior complaints about Jones during his 2007–2019 tenure, and what background vetting was completed before he was hired as a corrections officer. It is also unclear what, if any, review the Florida Department of Education — which maintains a public database tracking disciplinary actions against educator certificates — has conducted regarding Jones's time at the school.