Alleged child abuse is unreported for decades until the suspected molester is arrested on child pornography charges.
Warren Day was a speech therapist who worked in the Miami-Dade public school system decades ago. That’s when a woman, that wants to be identified only as “Lisa,” says that she was sexually molested.
“Lisa” tells the Team 6 Investigators that she was an 11-year old student at Frank C. Martin Elementary when Day molested her for months.
“I was identified to have a speech problem and then during one of the periods they would say, OK, you are going to go with a speech therapist and get help,” she said.
The woman claims it happened in the 1970s and she never told anyone.
“I was embarrassed,” she said.
Decades passed and Broward Sheriff’s detectives working with the Internet Crimes against Children Task Force would end up investigating the sexual abuse of one of her relatives.
Day wasn’t the suspect in that case but she says it reminded her of the abuse she endured. That’s when she asked detectives to try and locate her alleged abuser.
“She gave us some information so that we could try and identify her abuser,” says BSO Detective Jennifer Montgomery.
South Florida Priest Gets 15 Years in Sex Abuse Case
The detective explained that she tried to find him but with the little information she got, she came up empty.
A few years later, that same detective working a child pornography investigation says she identified her suspect as a Pembroke Pines resident named Warren Day.
“My partner did a little check to see what his employment might be and found that he had a speech therapist license and right then it clicked with us that we thought this was going to be our guy,” Montgomery said.
Following 17 cyber tips indicating Day was transmitting child pornography, BSO detectives arrested him the morning of Dec. 22, 2010.
Detective Montgomery says “he had just made himself a fresh cup of coffee and settled in at his computer and on his monitor at the time we got there were some child pornography webpages up on his screen.”
Man Accused of Abusing Children Since 1973: Cops
The websites had horrific child abuse images and a collection of child pornography that had apparently made Day famous on the Internet. Day was charged with 50 counts of possession of child pornography. He pled guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, 20 years of probation and will be registered as a sex offender. In an interview with police, Day didn’t speak highly of himself. “I’m just your regular run of the mill piece of s...t,” he told Detective Montgomery.
Day never admitted to molesting children during the interview, but in 1982 he was charged with a lewd and lascivious assault of a child and given probation. Because the law was different back then, he was never registered as a sex offender. Police say that, and the fact that he held a speech therapist license from 1976 to 2011 makes them fear there may be more victims.
“We know that he worked in many different schools,” Montgomery says.
Miami Police Officer Held Without Bond on Armed Sexual Battery, Kidnapping Charges
Miami Dade public school officials tell NBC 6 he worked with them from 1976 until 1983. Team 6 Investigators requested his personnel file but it had already been destroyed.
NBC 6 did find out Miami Gardens Elementary was the last Dade County public school that he worked for but detectives say because his speech pathologist license was never suspended, he might’ve had access to children after he left the district. They are now showing his picture in an effort to get more victims to come forward.
Day is scheduled to be released October 2022 and although he will be 77 years old, his alleged victim fears he could hurt other people.
“They are like serial killers, they only like certain ages of children,” Lisa said.
Because it’s been so long and finding evidence would be impossible, in order to charge Day with Lisa’s sexual abuse there would have to be more cases or he would have to confess.
NBC 6 requested an interview with Day at the state prison where he's serving his sentence but never heard back. BSO detectives say if you know of someone who was victimized by Warren Day you should call them at 954-888-5239.
More Local Stories:
- Police Caught on Camera Allegedly Ignoring Emergency Calls
- Woman Shot in the Face Feels Blessed To Have "A Second Life"
- Mother Heard Shots That Killed Son in Brownsville
Photo Credit: NBC 6 South Florida