The Cost of Silence

The Cost of Silence

by A.G. Guice

TRIGGER WARNING! In this opinion piece, I openly reference my thoughts and feelings regarding difficult topics such as, but not limited to, alleged child sexual abuse (CSA), pedophilia, grooming, the burden of mandatory reporting, lynching, and the reported police investigation of a Lauderdale Lakes commissioner named as a suspect in the alleged 2025 sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl, as reported by two Broward outlets in June 2026.

(All Moves, Views, & Spirit Expressed Are My Own.)

I am a Broward County educator- which means that I'm whatch'ya call a mandatory reporter. What does that mean, you ask? Well, to my understanding of the law, if I suspect a child in my care is being harmed and I say nothing, I can lose my job, my certification, and my freedom. As a mama, you bet not hurt my child. And in both instances, the law doesn't hold space for the level of certainty I have regarding child endangerment. Nor does it care whether I have evidentiary support necessarily. It asks only whether I suspected... and whether I remained silent.

I hold myself to a certain standard as a single mama to two Broward County daughters...So when I say I accept the role (and the burden) of being a mandatory reporter, I mean I consider it a sacred duty built on the public trust placed within me as a mother, teacher, and public servant. But before anything... Before I'm Black or Puerto Rican, even, I am mother to two daughters whom it is my duty to protect. When so much of my life's work is dedicated to both birthing babies and policy, I would say that child safety is a central focus of my family justice and perinatal advocacy work in the community.

This leads me to thinking (more often than I care to- admittedly) about the theory of silence almost as much as I interrogate how silence can be incredibly empowering in some situations, yet in other nuanced spaces, our silence can just as likely be weaponized against us.

(Read Audre Lorde's 'The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action' here.)

When trust is violated, privately or publicly, one must ask herself: What is the cost of silence?

When our children's safety is at risk and alleged pedophiles are grooming our daughters and sons- where do we make space for rage anymore? And as a Pre-Law student, I wonder: how do we do it legally? Operation Statewide Shield was an amazing example of what we can do when we center the safety of our children- 163 children were recovered during a multi-day multi-agency initiative last month. I honor those who support us mandatory reporters and remind us that public trust isn't as simple as alleged and accused.

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I grew up here in Broward. Born in Tampa (shout out to the 813), but a Fort Lauderdale guh, through and through. I was an International Baccalaureate student at Lauderdale Lakes Middle, where my class voted me 'Ms. Most Likely to Succeed' in the 8th grade. Two years at Piper High in Lauderhill, then Broward College at 16 (Thank you, College Academy!).

Around this time, I experienced my first real brush with a violation of public trust when Trayvon was murdered... And so was the birth of The Dream Defenders. Though I wasn't in the Capitol with the original 40 Dream Defenders or with those who trekked through Sanford, I was tapped on the shoulder by an elder sister in the organization shortly after. So, just like that, two 17-year-old teenage girls, my best friend and I, decided to form the Broward College chapter of Dream Defenders and expand the organization into Broward County. We did a lot of mobilization work: joined an organizational Congress, worked on a statewide Blacked Out History Curriculum, led regional voting campaigns, and all that jazz, but we also nurtured a small group of organizers. (This will matter later...)

By 18, I had an Associate's degree in Biology and my first instructional position with the county's public schools. I was a teen mother at 19, subbing, providing my community's mamas + families with culturally competent childbirth education, as well as offering peer-lactation support to women in South Florida neighborhoods. At some point in the chaos, God called me into advocacy work as a doula and I started my practice instead of pursuing a PA (Physician Assistant) pathway.

I reflect on this period of my life because it's how I stay true to my motherhood, teacherhood, advocacyhood, and alla that... But especially because I remember so often how many clearly older men would make me so uncomfortable in an attempt to pursue me as I became a teenage girl with a "certain" body type. I talk to my daughters about these experiences to let them know that in this household, sharing uncomfortable feelings are both hard and brave, but ultimately, help me (and them!) advocate for their safety. Our first motto centers bodily autonomy and consent: "My body, my rules."

There's no incentive to share this all to list myself, but so you understand: when I say "OUR children," I mean the ones I have birthed, taught, mentored, doula'd, and pray for everyday.

Now that I'm in my 30s, with two daughters, still teaching, still doula-ing, still advocating and organizing in the community that made me, I realize how much community power ebbs and flows around this relationship with public trust and the elected officials representing our municipal, statewide, and federal government(s).

There's a lot you can do in your pursuit of happiness, but here in Flawda, there's an understanding about both where we parents draw THAT line, and how far we're willing to go to make sure that if you cross it, you never get a chance to again… Here's what's been documented:

Unbeknownst to me, on June 24th and again on June 30th, two Broward news outlets (MargateNews & MargateTalk) reported that a sitting Lauderdale Lakes city commissioner is named as the suspect on a Margate Police Department incident report (37-2511-038256) alleging the sexual assault of a (14) fourteen-year old girl. According to that reporting, it appears Margate detectives referred the case to the Broward Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit in January. Reportedly, the accused commissioner, through his attorney, denied the allegations and declined to give a statement. From the reporting in the articles or Margate police report, it didn't appear any charges had been filed when I came across them after the primary elections. You know the line: Whether he is guilty is for a court to decide. As a pre-law student, I must believe that this commissioner is entitled to every protection our courts give him...

But, also: Something else has “happened” since I was made aware of these articles after the primaries. In my opinion, it doesn't require a verdict to see a breach of community trust here… There's an almost deafening silence from the elected officials who sit on the commission representing our beloved city of Lauderdale Lakes... Two meetings? Over sixty days or so of SILENCE.

To my knowledge: I haven't heard nor found any public word about the allegations. I haven't seen a question posed to the community about these allegations. Not an acknowledgement that these allegations exist. I wonder if a case could be made that they didn't know about his investigation, hadn't seen the police reports, or that this is because they had no opportunity to share with us residents. But... it seems the commission met at least twice since these local articles were published? All I can consider as a mom is how this feels so negligent when the elected official named as suspect in this investigation is around the community's children (and me?!)? Two meetings? Months and months of SILENCE?

And when I look at the city, county, and state legislators who claim they should earn our vote sitting on tacky digital flyers with the commission, I wonder:

What does silence cost? Maybe all of our votes for those seeking office this November?

I'll be honest with you about something I wrestle with. I grapple with abolitionist beliefs and believe in investing more into sustainable, community-led system design and preventative models of care, BUT I have never gotten a straight answer from anyone about what we do with people who harm our children. Cause when you ask most folks in Flawda about CSA, you'll hear people pose castration, jail, and even... street justice. Remember the thing I said about nuances and public trust?

But rage without a procedure becomes one of two things: violence, a lynching, or nothing at all, apparently. Our children aren't protected by any of those. That's why this opinion piece is not about punishment... at this time. But a rule, on the other hand, is a place to start. I know what this country has done with an accusation against a Black man. I know what a rope and a rumor built in this state and many around the South. That history is not a reason to say nothing. It is the very reason why I am asking for a written rule instead of a mob. A standard protects the child and the accused. Silence protects neither.

Here is the ordinance I want to propose: No elected official who is the subject of an active criminal investigation involving a minor should participate in, host, or appear at government-sponsored programming for children, in their official capacity, while that investigation remains open.

Not a finding, nor a suspension. Though I do personally believe that the articles and report (in this investigation) are enough for me to ask for his resignation... In theory, this policy could be designed while accounting for the dangers of rumors or unfounded accusations. The official would not lose their vote on the commission or governmental body, their pay, or their seat. It would end automatically when the matter closes. I feel like we already consider this with everyone else in roles regarding children and public safety. If a teacher accused of harming a child is removed from that classroom the same day, and the Department of Children & Families is involved, we don't look at this as smearing someone's public image or punishment, but necessary to maintain the safety of the youth we are sworn to protect.

Why is it that elected officials are the only adults in the building exempt from a rule the rest of us live under?

The last time I formally proposed a written policy or bill to The Florida Legislature, I had left my job as a District & Legislative Aide with The Florida House of Representatives. The truth is that even though the bill was drafted in 2024, I had been trying to explain the need for this legislation to the legislator I worked with and the local Sheriff.

HB 541 or "Safety of Child Care Facilities" would require law enforcement to notify nearby childcare facilities within a certain radius when a local school goes into lockdown or faces a security threat. Why should the babies in the daycares be left vulnerable and clueless to threats in the area? I asked my children's daycare and inquired with local officers to discover- it is a courtesy, but not required or set up to consider the children in daycare facilities. The bill I proposed cost nothing. It created no penalty.

My thinking was that we could simply require DCF in their licensing process (of daycare facilities in the state) to have every daycare and childcare system connected to the local police department's alarm system they have put in place since the nightmare that was the Parkland massacre. It basically asked one institution to tell the institution holding our children, but it died in the subcommittee without a hearing. Need I say more about 2024? We all know that was a nightmare of an election cycle.

I am asking the City of Lauderdale Lakes to adopt this city ordinance. Then I plan to take this to the Legislature in a more comprehensive Children & Family Safety bill package including a revised HB 541, where the last one died.

I do want to mention this other thing; Like Lorde shared about silence not being protection… I know this commissioner named as a suspect in this investigation. We worked together in community spaces over the years (met around my Broward College campus during my DD organizing days, at The Y of South Florida in Sistrunk, he has worked for Broward County Public Schools at both Boyd Anderson High School and The Old Dillard Museum (to my understanding), and we worked together, briefly this summer, at an ACCESS center at Community Medical Group here in Lauderdale Lakes and Margate.

I believe it was around the morning of April 29th, this year, when this commissioner called me to offer an opportunity for a position leading a social services office. I remember one of the first things he said to me was that "he needed someone he could trust" for this team he was building. I wasn't really considering it and spoke to a few of my trusted comrades and friends about it and grappled with it. But I took the job. I started training in Miami the week of June 15th as I was working on the relaunch of my Doula, Consulting & Wedding Officiant practice. But the week the first article came out (June 24th, 2026 and then the second on June 30th, 2026)- that was my first week working with this man at Community Medical Group here in Lauderdale Lakes. I sent in my resignation notice within four weeks of the first day, for reasons I won't share here at this time.

After primary elections, as I caught up with a community member and informed him that I wasn't working with this commissioner anymore, he informed me that he thought I had been made aware of the two local Margate articles and the allegations made from a little girl in our community. Seems I’d had my own head down so much with my own legal matters, I found myself shocked when I learned of both of the allegations and the report just a couple of days after primaries... I mostly wondered: How could there be so much silence after almost two months?! The next day, the Margate talk article disappeared even though the hyperlink was still active. (The article has since been restored since bringing it to the public attention again via social media the next day.)

From what I read, the case had been referred to the Sheriff's Special Victims Unit in January. He called me in April. The reporting became public in June. My last day working with him was July 31, 2026, and I can only tell you this:

After reading these articles and the police report, I am grateful I trusted my gut and never brought MY daughters around this man or trusted HIM.

I can ask this commissioner to resign...we all could and should ask him to resign or vote for this ordinance along with the rest of the commission. Not because a court has determined anything or because he's admitting to any guilt (as is his right), but because the youth should always come first. To my knowledge, his guilt hasn't been determined in the courts and it may never. I am asking for this ordinance and his resignation because our community's trust is not a court's to give or take away. It's ours. And I personally don't believe an elected official can hold a public seat in a city whose parents cannot trust 'em with our children.

Here’s what I have learned so far: Silence is never neutral. Silence is always a choice and it always costs somebody.

What did it cost this brave 14-year-old little girl to come forward? What will it cost me to publish this piece? As Audre Lorde shared: "My silences had not protected me. Yours will not protect you."

I plan to address the Lauderdale Lakes City Commission during formal meetings at City Hall this month regarding public safety during this open investigation, as is my legal right. I hope you will join me, too, to advocate for this proposed ordinance and the safety of our children.

By A. Gabriella Guice

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