Staff report

ALACHUA, Fla. – Criminal charges have been filed against three current and former Santa Fe High School (SFHS) administrators for not reporting inappropriate interactions by baseball coach Travis Yeckring with several female students over a span of years.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has formally accused Michele R. Faulk, 61, who was the school’s athletic director at the time; David “Mac” McLean Rendek, 37, an assistant principal; and Timothy E. Wright, 63, the school’s former principal, with child neglect and failing to report suspected child abuse, which are both felonies.

The complaints highlight that all three were knowledgeable administrators fully aware of their duty to document and investigate any concerns impacting the health, safety, or welfare of students and staff. Faulk, also the Title IX investigator for SFHS, was responsible for documenting and addressing sexual harassment, receiving further training in these duties.

Witness 1 (parent of a baseball player)

Witness 1, the parent of a baseball player, reportedly told an FDLE agent that during a meeting with Faulk and Yeckring about his son and the baseball team, he told them he had proof that Yeckring was communicating with female students on social media; he said Faulk did not ask him any questions about his statement.

He said he met with Wright two days later and said he’d heard rumors for three or four years that Yeckring was flirting with SFHS students. He said he only knew the names of two of the students but had heard of five different girls; he said he knew Victim 1 had been targeted by Yeckring the previous year and had reported the incidents to the front office. He also said he told Wright that Yeckring had sent direct messages on Instagram to a female student who had recently graduated (Witness 2); he said he heard about this from the girl’s mother.

Witness 1 told the agent he followed up with Wright a week later, and Wright had not contacted the girl who had recently graduated (Witness 2) or spoken with her parents, although he said Wright told him he had tried to speak with the girl’s mother.

Witness 2 (recently graduated female student at the time of the investigation)

Witness 2 was interviewed by the FDLE agent and reportedly said she met Yeckring in her senior year and that he kept trying to engage her in conversations; she said she found the conversations awkward and would make excuses to get away from him. She said Yeckring asked her about her relationship with her boyfriend and that friends told her Yeckring would stare at her when her back was turned. She said in one conversation, Yeckring told her he had a dog and showed her a picture that was supposed to be of his dog but was actually a “close-up selfie” of Yeckring with a dog on his chest.

Witness 2 said Yeckring often waited for her in the hallways and that she took different routes to try to avoid him.

Shortly after she graduated, she said, Yeckring sent her a “flirty” direct message through Instagram. Even though she was 18 at the time, she said she found the message “upsetting.”

Victim 1 (female student)

Victim 1, a female student, said Yeckring initiated a conversation with her in October 2022 and showed her a picture of his dog on his phone; she said after that, he scrolled through other pictures and turned the phone toward her to show her a picture of himself that she described as a “nude photo” or “like a semi-nude photo.”

She said the photo showed Yeckring lying on his back in a bed, nude, with a sheet draped so that his genitals could not be seen, but she could see “a lot of his pelvic region”; she said it was “pretty obvious” that he was not wearing underwear.

She said she saw Yeckring in the hall about a week later and tried to avoid him, but he called out to her and started talking to her. She said he told her she looked like someone he knew and that she was “beautiful, unique, and that she was not like other girls.” She said he told her she was “different and pretty in her own way,” which “shocked and scared” her. She said she was “very upset” and went to class, where she told the teacher (Witness 3) what had happened.

Witness 3 (teacher)

Witness 3, a teacher, told the FDLE agent that she remembered Victim 1 complaining about Yeckring when she walked into the classroom and that Victim 1 was “really upset” and said Yeckring had “somehow contacted her or sent her a selfie of himself. In the selfie, he wasn’t wearing a shirt.” She said she told Victim 1 that shouldn’t have happened and immediately wrote a pass for Victim 1 to go to the front office and report the incident directly to Wright, the principal, and Faulk, the athletic director, because Yeckring was the baseball coach. She said Victim 1 took the pass and left her class.

Witness 3 said she was never contacted by Wright or Faulk about the incident.

Victim 1 (female student)

Victim 1 said she went to the office to speak with Rendek, an assistant principal, about both incidents with Yeckring, and she said Rendek told her this wasn’t the first time he had “heard of this”; she said Rendek told her Yeckring would never speak to her again and that she would never see him again. However, about a week later, Yeckring was a substitute teacher for one of her classes. She said she felt that Rendek did not take her complaint seriously because Yeckring was assigned as a substitute for her class.

Victim 1 said she decided to meet with Wright because Rendek didn’t take appropriate action, and Wright told her it was the first time he’d heard about her interactions with Yeckring, but he had heard of other incidents involving Yeckring. She said Faulk came into the room during the conversation, and she told her story again to both Faulk and Wright. She said she completed a “formal form” about the incident, and Wright and Faulk apologized to her and said it would not happen again and they would take care of it.

Victim 1 said she and her parents were never contacted by Faulk, Rendek, or Wright.

Victim 2 (female student)

Victim 2 said that in October of 2022, she met Yeckring during a tour of the school, and he introduced himself to her as “Travis,” but she called him “Yeck.” She said that after she met him, he started talking to her and bought her food twice.

She said she heard other female students say that Yeckring told them they looked pretty, made creepy comments, viewed their TikTok accounts, or “stalked” their Instagram pages.

She said some of the female office aides called him “Pedo-Yeck,” and they said that was because he kept trying to “groom” female students. She said she began calling him “Pedo-Yeck,” but when she used that term in front of Faulk, she said, Faulk told her she couldn’t say that but didn’t ask why the students called him that or why they thought he was creepy.

The next fall, Victim 2 said, there was a “buzz” at school about Yeckring’s direct messages to Witness 2. She said multiple girls said they’d had similar interactions with Yeckring.

Victim 2 said she spoke to Faulk about Yeckring’s direct messages to Witness 2, and Faulk said, “Oh, if I hear anything about this, I could bench you.” Victim 2 said Faulk told other students that if they said anything about Yeckring, “There could be consequences” and “You don’t know if those texts were AI-created.” Victim 2 said Faulk did not ask any follow-up questions or investigate the students’ concerns about Yeckring.

Victim 2 said in one conversation with Yeckring, he told her not to worry about a fight with her boyfriend because “there’s big men out there that are waiting on you.” When she asked what he meant, she said, he laughed and said, “No, you know what I mean, like, real men.”

She said that once when she was running an errand in her role as an aide, Yeckring waited for her in a hallway where “everyone knew that there was no video camera, a place that Victim 2 said all of the students went to make out or smoke weed.” She said he held out both hands to her, with his palms up, referring to it as a “wedding stance,” and took both of her hands without her permission. She said she pulled her hands away quickly, and Yeckring said again that there were big men out there.

She said the interaction upset her, she started crying, and Yeckring told her it would be okay and then tried to hug her. She said she turned to keep distance between them, and he backed up with his hands up and said he had to go fix a computer.

Victim 2 said she met with Wright and told him about the incident, and Wright took notes in a small notebook. She said Wright told her, “We’re going to get this fixed. I’ve already talked to your friend. I’ll have a conversation with him. This isn’t acceptable. I’m sorry you girls are feeling this way.” She said weeks passed and “nothing came of it.”

Victim 2 said Wright did not contact her again and never contacted her parents.

Victim 2 said she didn’t tell Faulk about Yeckring grabbing her hands and trying to hug her because she was afraid Faulk would retaliate and bench her.

Victim 3 (female student)

Victim 3, a female student, said Yeckring spent a lot of time in the dean’s lobby, where the aides worked, talking to the female aides. She said he bought her and Victim 4 a smoothie once, which she thought was “odd.”

Victim 3 said there was an incident in the dean’s office when Yeckring scrutinized her appearance and remarked on her clothing in a way she found inappropriate from a school employee.

Another time, she said, Yeckring invited her to his apartment to see his dog and showed her a picture of his dog. She told him she would not come see his dog and was “in shock” and “uncomfortable.” She said she told Witness 4 (an SFHS employee and coach) and Witness 5 (a staff member) that Yeckring had invited her to his apartment, and she said they both made comments like, “Don’t feed into him,” “Be aware of your surroundings,” and “Be smart.” She said they told her Yeckring was “harmless.” She said the two employees had “common knowledge” about Yeckring’s behavior from the complaints of multiple girls and that both adults had called Yeckring “weird.”

She said another time, Yeckring asked her to leave campus with him to go to a nearby coffee shop. She said that when she refused, he “begged” her to come in a “flirtatious manner” and “pouted” when he didn’t “get his way.” She said it felt like Yeckring was asking her on a date. After Yeckring left the office, Rendek walked in, and she told him about what had happened. She said it felt good to tell someone who could do something about it and that she trusted Rendek, but he did not respond as she expected; she said he only said things like “Be careful” and “Don’t fall for his foolishness” and “You’re smarter than that.” She said Rendek didn’t ask her any questions about what Yeckring did but only asked what she did, and his reaction caught her “completely off guard.”

Victim 3 said nothing happened after she reported the incident to Rendek, and nobody from the school ever followed up with her parents.

Witness 4 (SFHS employee and coach)

Witness 4, an SFHS employee and coach, was interviewed by the FDLE agent and reportedly said Yeckring had no official reason for being in the dean’s office but came in to “speak with people.” When asked if she heard rumors about Yeckring, she said, “Not to me personally, no” and “I’ve never had a kid say that there was anything inappropriate.”

When asked whether she had told Faulk or anyone else at the school that students had complained about Yeckring, she “finally” said that she had. She said she couldn’t remember specifics, but she said she told Rendek that the girls needed to share something with him. She said if she had known that Yeckring invited Victim 3 to his apartment, she “would” have told Rendek, but she could not remember that specific incident.

Witness 4 said she remembered one time when Yeckring offered to bring smoothies to two aides, but she remembered that the students had paid Yeckring for the smoothies. When asked whether it was common for a teacher to bring smoothies to students, she said it wasn’t. She said she couldn’t remember which students were involved in that and could not remember when it happened.

Witness 4 reportedly remembered at that point that Victim 3 had called Yeckring “creepy” when he brought smoothies to the girls.

Witness 4 also said she remembered Victim 4 complaining to her about Yeckring, and when she asked if the student wanted to speak to someone about it, Victim 4 said yes. She said she went to get Rendek and knew that he had spoken to Victim 4, but she said Rendek never asked her about it or followed up with her.

Victim 4 (a female student)

Victim 4, a female student, said she thought at first that Yeckring was “nice” and “personable,” but then she started hearing from other students that he was “weird” and had inappropriate contact with older female students.

Victim 4 said Yeckring spent an “excessive” amount of time in the dean’s office lobby and frequently pulled Victim 4 and Victim 5 out of the dean’s office to ask them about their dating relationships.

Victim 4 said at one point, Yeckring showed her pictures of his dog and said she should come meet his dog at his apartment. She felt that was “weird” and did not accept his invitation. She said Victim 5 and Witness 6 (a male student) and possibly Witness 4 were in the office during this conversation. She said Yeckring brought her and others food and drink every other week or so, and they gave him cash.

Victim 4 said it was possible that she had complained to administrators about Yeckring, but she could not remember whether she had done that.

Victim 5 (a female student)

Victim 5, a female student, said Yeckring was “always in and out of the dean’s office.” She said he was “flirtatious,” “overly friendly,” and always joking with the female students. She said he “wanted to be a close friend. He wanted to be friends with us, for sure, maybe even more than friends.” She said he had “personal relationships” with her, Victim 3, and Victim 4, and that “Victim 4 was close with him.” She said Yeckring frequently asked her about her relationship with her boyfriend.

Victim 5 said Yeckring frequently complimented her on her looks or what she was wearing and compared her to an actress with the same color hair.

Victim 5 said Yeckring talked about his dog a lot and showed her a picture of him and his dog; she said she believed he was wearing a shirt in the picture.

She said he brought smoothies for her, Victim 3, and another female student, and that she didn’t think it was inappropriate at the time because he did it in front of other school staff, including Witness 4.

Victim 5 said she spoke to Witness 4 (an SFHS employee and coach) about Yeckring, but “Yeckring’s behavior was a joke to [Witness 4],” so the conversations were never “serious.” She said she also told Witness 5 (an SFHS employee) about Yeckring’s behavior, and that Witness 4 and Witness 5 “knew that I thought that he was a weirdo, like 100% knew it.”

Victim 5 said she remembered the conversation in which Yeckring invited her and Victim 4 to his apartment to see his dog, and she thought it was “weird.”

Witness 6 (a male student)

Witness 6, a male student, also said Yeckring had asked Victims 4 and 5 to go to his apartment, and Witness 6 heard Yeckring compliment them on their looks. Witness 6 said Yeckring did not invite him to come to his apartment to meet his dog.

Victim 6 (a female student)

Victim 6, a female student, said Yeckring was in the dean’s office lobby almost every day but “conducted no school business there.” She said if she was out running errands for the dean’s office, Yeckring didn’t stay there long, but if she wasn’t busy, he stayed the whole period. She said Yeckring either ignored or had short conversations with his baseball players if they were there in the lobby.

She said one time, Yeckring told her he was going to show her pictures of his dog on his phone, but instead he showed her selfies with two smaller dogs; in one of the selfies, she said, Yeckring was shirtless, with a large dog on his chest. She said this photo “weirded” her “out.”

Victim 6 said that over two years working as a dean’s aide, Yeckring intercepted her in the halls and walked with her about 70-75 times, and she became “uncomfortable” with him following her.

Victim 6 said she started asking a male friend (Witness 7) to go with her to run errands, “as a protective escort,” but when Witness 7 wasn’t available, she said, she would “conduct countersurveillance” in an attempt to see Yeckring before he saw her. She said if she saw him, she would take a different route.

Victim 6 said that during her senior year, Yeckring told Witness 9 (a female student) that he “needed” to visit Victim 6 and Witness 9’s new place after they graduated; she said it was well known that they planned to be roommates after high school. She said neither of them knew how to respond to that.

Victim 6 said Yeckring talked about playing tennis with her, “even though he didn’t play tennis.” She said he would offer to coach her because he could teach her “new skills.” She said this always included an offer to meet her away from the school and that these comments were “consistent.” She said, “He wanted to be alone with me. I felt like he wanted to be around me, not in a school setting… I believed he wanted to do sexual acts or at least be in a position where he could flirt with me… and not be around other individuals. I never got the feeling that it was just a friendly thing.” She said he also commented on her clothing and that he “always” asked her about her relationship status.

Victim 6 said she got to the point where she never wanted to see Yeckring, and twice when he substituted for one of her teachers, she walked out of class to “remove” herself from the “situation before it occurred.” She said Yeckring followed her.

When asked whether she had ever reported Yeckring’s behavior to an adult, she said Witness 4 (an SFHS employee and coach) knew Yeckring “made all the girls uncomfortable… I don’t remember if I ever told her exactly what he said, but she knew that he made me uncomfortable.” She added that she felt like when Yeckring was around, Witness 4 intentionally selected her to run errands so she could leave the office.

Victim 6 said she told Witness 9 (a teacher) about Yeckring’s weird comments. She said Witness 9 asked if she wanted to report it, and she said she declined because Yeckring hadn’t done anything “serious enough for her to complain.” Victim 6 said she felt like Witness 9 put the responsibility back on her to report it, and at that point, she “just wanted the whole situation to go away.”

Witness 9 (a teacher)

Witness 9 reportedly told the FDLE agent that she knew Yeckring as a co-worker and that she thought he was close with Rendek but “friendly with a lot of people.” She said she was not surprised when the allegations surfaced because girls had been coming to her, complaining that he was “creepy, staring at them too long, or requesting to friend them on social media.”

Witness 9 said a female student came to her once and showed her pictures of Yeckring staring at her while he was substituting in Witness 9’s class. She said the student said it was “creepy” and that he “wouldn’t stop staring.” Witness 9 said she told the student she should report it, but the FDLE agent noted that Victim 6 did report it to Witness 9, an employee of SFHS who is a mandatory reporter by statute.

Witness 9 said she didn’t remember Victim 6 saying anything about Yeckring and remembered hearing complaints “a couple times a year” about Yeckring, which increased after he was suspended.

Dr. Timothy Wright (principal)

Wright, who is now retired but was previously the principal at SFHS, reportedly acknowledged that he received a complaint from Witness 2 (the recently graduated female student). He said, “I have, I received a complaint. Unfortunately, did I go to SRO (the school resource officer)? No, I didn’t, because I was trying to ‘collaborate’ if any of what was said to me was in fact true.” He said that when he heard about Yeckring mesagging the student, he looked her up to see if she had graduated but didn’t check her age.

When asked if he had ever heard about students making complaints about Yeckring to anyone else, the FDLE agent reported that Wright did not respond directly but said, “To the best of my knowledge… nothing that was ever reported to me.”

When asked if he remembered a female student making a complaint about Yeckring to Rendek, Wright reportedly said, “Off the top of my head, no, nothing.”

Wright reportedly said that a male teacher should not use “personal” language with a female student or speak to a student about anything that happened outside of school. He said a teacher should not remark on a student’s appearance or clothing, and if a teacher called a student “pretty,” that would be a “red flag.”

When asked again if he ever heard about Yeckring saying anything inappropriate to, flirting with, or trying to engage in a romantic relationship with a female student, Wright reportedly said, “Never.”

The agent reported that Wright documented Victim 1’s complaint in writing, including her allegation that Yeckring showed her a shirtless photograph. He also documented Victim 1’s report that girls had complained to Faulk about Yeckring and listed names provided by Victim 1.

Wright reportedly said he asked Faulk whether girls had complained to her about Yeckring, and Faulk told him no girls had complained about Yeckring. Wright reportedly never spoke with the girls on the list provided by Victim 1.

Wright reportedly said he did not remember speaking with Yeckring about Victim 1’s allegations.

Yeckring

Yeckring reportedly told an FDLE agent that Wright did speak to him about Victim 1, saying she had reported that he was “flirting” with her. Yeckring said Wright told him to be careful and be aware of everything that he did or said at the school.

Faulk

Faulk reportedly told an agent that she was aware of complaints made by female SFHS students about Yeckring. When asked if Yeckring had a reputation for being too friendly with female students, Faulk reportedly said, “I think with some of the females, he does.”

Faulk said she remembered Victim 1 coming to the office to talk to Wright, but she said she wasn’t involved. She said Wright told her after he spoke with Victim 1 that the “gist” of Victim 1’s complaint was that Yeckring was “creepy.”

When asked whether Yeckring complimented Victim 1 in person, Faulk reportedly said, “Maybe, but I mean — I compliment kids, ‘Your hair looks nice today,’ you know, ‘You look nice.’”

When asked what she remembered Victim 1 saying about Yeckring, Faulk reportedly said, “I know she did express that he kind of creeped her out because he mentioned, ‘You look nice today,’ I think was the comment that she had made, and she said, ‘That just creeped me out.’ And that’s really all that, you know, kind of what’s said.”

When asked whether Victim 1 mentioned Yeckring saying she was “pretty” or “beautiful,” Faulk reportedly said she remembered Victim 1 coming up to her while she was supervising students in the cafeteria: “I do remember her coming up and just making a statement about him. You know, ‘He compliments too much.’”

Faulk said Wright told her that after he spoke to Victim 1, he called Yeckring in and had a conversation with him about the complaint. Faulk said she also spoke to Yeckring about “making sure the girls aren’t perceiving” him “as being creepy… Don’t do things that will give them the feeling of, ‘Hey, that’s a little awkward.’”

Faulk reportedly confirmed that she received a complaint from Witness 1 (a father of a baseball player) that Yeckring had sent Witness 2 a direct message after graduation. She said Wright handled that complaint after Witness 1 went to Wright two days after he told Faulk about the incident. The agent noted that Faulk did not act after receiving the complaint from Witness 1.

Faulk also reportedly confirmed that the girls’ softball coach had told her around 2022 that some of the female players were complaining that Yeckring was creepy. Faulk said there was nothing concrete about those complaints, but she reportedly did not ask any questions, interview the players, appropriately report and document Yeckring’s behavior, or complete investigations to determine whether the complaints were valid.

Rendek

Rendek reportedly said he was not aware that any students had made complaints about Yeckring. He said he only remembered hearing that Witness 1 (the father of a baseball player) met with both Faulk and Yeckring about baseball team issues. He said he heard that Witness 1 had alleged that Yeckring had been communicating with a female student over social media.

When Rendek was told that a female student had told the FDLE agent that she reported Yeckring to Rendek, Rendek reportedly responded, “Not that I’m aware of.” When provided with Victim 1’s name, he reportedly remembered that she had complained about Yeckring but could not remember the context. He reportedly remembered that Wright had met with Victim 1’s parents after Rendek relayed the complaint to Wright.

The FDLE agent noted that nobody from the school ever met with Victim 1’s parents.

When asked if he would have forgotten that Yeckring complimented Victim 1, Rendek reportedly did not answer but asked, “In what way?” When asked what he would consider to be an inappropriate compliment, Rendek reportedly said that “anything not school-related” or “personal in nature” would cross the line. He said it would even be inappropriate for a male teacher to compliment a female student’s shirt or say she looked nice; he said he didn’t recall anything like this.

Rendek reportedly denied hearing anything about Yeckring talking to girls like he allegedly talked to Victim 1, but he confirmed that Yeckring had a reputation for being “flirtatious.” Rendek said, however, that he had no first-hand knowledge of these complaints.

The FDLE agent noted that Victim 1 said she reported incidents involving Yeckring directly to Rendek, and Victim 3 said she told Rendek that Yeckring tried to convince her to leave school and go to a coffee shop with him.

The agent noted, “Defendant Rendek did not ask additional questions, interview students, appropriately report and/or document Yeckring’s behavior, nor complete investigations to determine the validity of the complaints that were reported to him directly and/or the rumors that he was aware of regarding Yeckring’s flirtatious behavior.”

Summary

The agent wrote that the three defendants knew, for at least two years, about multiple reports that Yeckring engaged in inappropriate and unlawful interactions with underage female SFHS students: “His behavior was described by both school employees and students as inappropriate, concerning, and flirtatious. Yeckring battered Victim 2 when he twice touched her without her consent. Additionally, Yeckring was not a teacher, coach, nor mentor to any of the victims, yet he solicited mutiple victims to travel with him away from the school or to meet him outside of school for reasons unrelated to school. None of the co-defendants appropriately documented or investigated the complaints, notified parents and/or guardians of the impacted students, offered services to students that came forward, notified the Alachua County School Board, notified law enforcement, nor did they notify DCF, which, based on

Yeckring’s actions, were mandated by Florida State Statute. Additionally, they fostered a school environment that minimized Yeckring’s behavior and encouraged both students and staff to remain silent and refrain from reporting Yeckring’s actions. Students that came forward and reported Yeckring either were ignored, dismissed, and/or threatened with retaliation.”

Faulk and Rendek have again been placed on administrative leave

Wright retired at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. Faulk and Rendek were placed on administrative leave in November 2024 after a parent of a female SFHS student filed a civil lawsuit, alleging that administrators failed to investigate or report complaints about sexual harassment by Yeckring. Alachua County Public Schools PIO Jackie Johnson said on July 17 that Faulk and Rendek resumed their duties at SFHS (Faulk as a teacher, Rendek as an assistant principal) after the lawsuit was dismissed in April, but after ACPS learned about the sworn complaints yesterday, Faulk and Rendek were again placed on administrative leave.

In her order dismissing the civil case, Judge Donna Keim wrote that Florida statutes do “not create a civil cause of action,” even if the allegations were true. She wrote, “Rather, the penalty for failing to comply with [statutes] is a criminal action, as set forth in Section 39.205(1), Florida Statutes, which provides that ‘[a] person who knowingly and willfully fails to report to the central abuse hotline known or suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect, or who knowingly and willfully prevents another person from doing so, commits a felony of the third degree.”

Status of the cases

Sworn complaints have been filed with the Alachua County Clerk of Courts, and an Assistant State Attorney has been assigned to the cases, but no warrants have been issued, and none of the defendants have been arrested.

Articles about criminal allegations are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.