Marion County jurors have acquitted a former Ocala elementary school principal who was accused of striking a male student and preventing him from leaving a classroom for over 40 minutes, saying there was no evidence of harm or injuries caused to the student.
Back on May 11, 2024, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office arrested then-33-year-old Dontay Akeem Prophet in connection with an incident that occurred at Destiny Leadership Academy (4790 N U.S. Highway 441 in Ocala).
According to the sheriff’s office, an incident involving the principal, Prophet, and a male student occurred on the school campus on May 10, 2024. An MCSO deputy responded to the school and conducted an investigation.
MCSO stated that surveillance footage from one of the school’s classrooms was obtained, which allegedly showed Prophet grabbing the student/victim, restraining him on the ground, and “employing a chokehold” on him.
During trial, the judge and jury reviewed surveillance footage that depicted Prophet struggling with the victim over an extended period of time. Prophet could be seen swinging a computer charging cable at the victim’s foot, but the video was unclear as to whether Prophet made contact with the child.
In the report, a deputy noted that the victim attempted to escape from Prophet multiple times, and Prophet allegedly proceeded to pick up the victim before “(pinning) him to the ground.” The report made several claims regarding Prophet’s alleged actions towards the child, although none of those were substantiated at trial.
Later in the video footage, Prophet was allegedly observed standing in front of the classroom door, which prevented the victim from leaving. The victim attempted to hide under a table, and Prophet allegedly grabbed the victim’s right ankle and twisted it before “(dropping) his knee into the victim’s leg,” according to the report. The victim was eventually allowed to leave the classroom.
The student victim testified that he had made several statements that he was going to hurt himself on the day of the incident. Prophet says the student told him that he was going to run into traffic on U.S. Highway 441 and harm the school.
A school employee told the deputy that they heard screaming coming from the classroom, and they saw Prophet “blocking the door and preventing the victim from leaving.” When the victim left the classroom, the employee advised that the victim had a welt on the right side of his face.
Prophet was arrested in May 2024, booked into Marion County Jail, and later released from the facility after posting bond. He was initially charged with child abuse without great bodily harm and false imprisonment of a child under 13 years of age, though the latter charge was dropped by prosecutors.
On July 3, 2025, Prophet’s case went to trial, and jurors deliberated that same day before returning a verdict of “not guilty.”
During court proceedings, photos of the student that were taken after the incident were inconclusive and lacked evidence of serious harm.
Earlier this year, Prophet was accused of molesting an 8-year-old boy. He was facing one count of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child younger than 12 years old, though the charge was eventually dropped by prosecutors after they determined that a conviction was unlikely.
UPDATE: This story was edited to clarify details about the alleged incident and to present additional information from Prophet’s defense team.